Cracking the Sales Management Code: The Secrets to Measuring and Managing What Drives Sales Performance

Cracking the Sales Management Code is a groundbreaking book for sales managers and executives who want greater control over sales performance. Based on new research into how world-class sales forces measure and manage their sellers, it provides a best practice approach to identify and implement the critical activities and metrics that drive business results. It is not a book on organizational leadership, nor is it a book on interpersonal coaching. It is a book on how to effectively manage a sales force.

Neil Rackham (bestselling author of SPIN Selling) states in his foreword, "There's an acute shortage of good books on the specifics of sales management. Cracking the Sales Management Code is about the practical specifics of sales management in the new era, and it fills a void."

This book is effectively an operating manual for the sales force. It identifies the 5 fundamental sales processes that can be managed to create desired business outcomes, and it helps readers choose which of the processes are needed to achieve their own strategic objectives. It also provides examples of actual tools and frameworks for sales managers to use, and it gives straight-forward advice on how to change sales force behaviors while avoiding common pitfalls. This book will further help sales forces maximize the usefulness of CRM by defining 3 distinct levels of sales metrics - those you can directly manage, those you can influence, and those that you can only hope to change.

Cracking the Sales Management Code is written in an engaging and narrative way that brings to life the extensive research and practical insights contained within its pages. It is a must-read for anyone in sales management or sales operations who wants to clarify the task of sales management and put in place the strategies, processes, tools, and metrics to proactively manage sales performance.

About the Authors

Jason Jordan is a partner of Vantage Point Performance, Inc., a leading sales management training and development firm. He is a recognized thought leader in the domain of business-to-business selling and conducts ongoing research into management best practices in hiring, developing, measuring, and managing world-class sales organizations. Jason’s extensive research into sales performance metrics led to the original breakthrough insights in Cracking the Sales Management Code.

For 15 years, Jason has worked internationally in industries such as technology, manufacturing, distribution, financial services, construction, media, telecommunications, consumer products, health care, and hospitality. As a popular speaker and writer, he is a frequent contributor to the Sales Management Association, the American Society for Training and Development, Selling Power, Sales & Marketing Management, and other industry groups.

Having sold financial products, consumer products, and software integration services early in his career, Jason is a passionate advocate of both the sales profession and the evolution of sales management into a science. He is currently the Director of Research for the Sales Education Foundation and is a visiting faculty member in the Executive Education and MBA programs at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

Jason received an economics degree with honors from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Virginia.

Michelle Vazzana is a partner at Vantage Point Performance, Inc., the most innovative sales management training and development firm in the marketplace today. Michelle is a seasoned practitioner in the sales management arena and has coached and developed hundreds of sales managers and leaders since her foray into consulting more than 12 years ago.

She has broken new ground in the area of sales and sales management effectiveness, helping managers focus on the vital few activities that drive true sales improvement. Her experience in coaching and training sales managers in Fortune 500 companies has propelled Vantage Point Performance’s ground-breaking research into practical application for sales managers worldwide.

Michelle is a recognized expert in the area of sales management and sales coaching, and she is a sought-after speaker for organizations including the American Society for Training and Development and the Sales Management Association. She has been the driving force behind the development of Vantage Point Performance’s key training programs and leads the firm’s deployment of high-impact client engagements.

For 26 years, Michelle has been in sales roles including direct sales, management, training, and consulting. She started her career selling for IBM and Xerox, where she held a variety of sales and management roles. Michelle has worked with Neil Rackham and other thought leaders in the industry to design and deploy pioneering sales performance improvement strategies.

As a voracious learner, Michelle continues to pursue graduate studies in Organizational Psychology to deepen her insights into the interplay between human behavior and sales performance. She has a master’s degree in management for organizational effectiveness, as well as master’s certificates in Total Quality Management and Instructional Systems Design from Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. She also has a bachelor of science degree in Computer Science from Florida International University.