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Sink Or Swim: Manage Your Sales Reps Through A Downturn
Sink Or Swim: Manage Your Sales Reps Through A Downturn
You can either sink, swim, or be the captain of the ship.
When sh*t hits the fan and the market takes a dip, venture capital goes running.
When VCs start to tighten their purse strings go-to-market leaders are the first to feel it.
If you’ve been a sales manager for any length of time in 2022, you’ve learned that downturns happen for many reasons including, but not limited to economic market bubble popping, world-wide pandemics grinding everyone to a halt, and many others…
There’s a lot out of your control as a sales leader, but something you can control is understanding the situation you’re in and pivoting the team to survive - and thrive - in whatever the new normal may be.
Check out this masterclass hosted by Pete Kazanjy (Atrium’s Co-Founder & CRO) with special guest Majhon Phillips, Manger, Customer Implementation Team @ Atrium, to learn how to manage your sales reps through a downturn.
discussion
How to pivot your sales team in a downturn (go from growth first to efficiency first)
How to find a new baseline for your once reliable sales motion
How to focus on and drive effort and efficiency in your AE & SDR teams
How to optimize your management and operations staff (nice to have vs need to have vs automate it)
Is your sales team the right size? How to make data-backed, fair decisions when deciding whether to RIF
Key Takeaways
Monitor your reps’ performance variability: Some variation is normal, but you need standards of excellence for each role. Focusing on your top performers will only get you so far, give your reps the transparency they need to decide if they're going to step up or part ways.
Get your leverage: Beyond driving higher levels of excellence at rep levels, managers can boost efficiency through being more data-driven, broadening spans of control, and automating the tasks that don't require creative problem solving.
Right-sizing your sales org: Look at Will vs. Skill. Skills can be taught, drive is what count most. Once you define which metrics fall into the two categories, the right decisions become less arbitrary and more predictable over time.