Getting stellar sales performance: why sales managers’ mentoring, coaching and technology capabilities make the difference

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this viewpoint is to distinguish the importance of sales managers’ attitude and role clarity in the context of mentoring, coaching and technology capabilities to achieve stellar sales force operations and performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This report reviews the sales training literature to highlight how managerial interventions enhance competencies, behaviours and advanced level of selling orientation by mentoring and coaching construct. The concept of manager’s creativity and imagination is brought out to explain why it should be adapted and carried out in an era of vibrant and dynamic selling paradigm.

Findings

Adapting and implementing the concept of mentoring and coaching in a personal or industrial selling context may provide sales organization and academicians a better reason of how leadership and personality traits of manager enhance learning transfer.

Practical implications

Sales managers could develop appropriate new metrics based on market orientation for building strategic relationships, thereby eliminates ambiguity in sales-force function.

Social implications

Increased sales result in sales force retention, organizational sustainability and economic growth.

Originality/value

This paper introduces the concept of mentoring and coaching touch as improvement tactics to transform average salespeople into exceptional performers in contemporary selling to surpass productivity records.

Citation

Khandelwal Das, K., Kumar Upadhyay, A. and Das, S. (2014), "Getting stellar sales performance: why sales managers’ mentoring, coaching and technology capabilities make the difference", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 13-16. https://doi.org/10.1108/DLO-02-2014-0012