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CRACKING
THE
SALES
MANAGEMENT
CODE
JASON JORDAN WITH MICHELLE VAZZANA

SUMMARIZED BY
 Cracking the Sales
Management Code
Cracking the Sales Management Code by Jason Jordan and Michelle Vaz-
zana is a must-read for sales professionals. It is based on Jason Jordan’s
belief that sales management is a science. In order to boost profits, sales
managers need a sales strategy with actionable steps that can be monito-
red with the right sales metrics. The book is based on his research and ex-
perience in managing the sales forces of top companies.

Introduction

All sales team wants to sell more.

And in the 21st century, sales teams have turned to CRM which promise to
automate sales activity, aggregate data and nurture leads.

However, Jordan believes that having the right CRM is not enough. The
modern sales manager has data right at their fingertips, and they should
know how to use this to transform data into sales.

If you want to learn how to craft a science-based and research-backed

sales strategy, then we recommend Cracking the Sales Management Code:
The Secrets to Measuring and Managing Sales Performance by Jason Jor-
dan and Michelle Vazzana.

No time to finish a 250-page book? We know that sales managers have a

busy schedule so we’ve summarized this ultimate sales resource below.
Table of Contents
1. Sales Then and Now

2. Sales Metrics: Manageable vs Unmanageable

3. Activities, Objectives & Results: Manageable or Not?

4. 5 Types Of Sales Processes

5. Which Sales Process Is Right For Your Business?

6. Know Your Sales Objectives

7. Putting It All Together

8. The Challenge for Sales Managers

1. Sales Then and Now
What is the sales management code?

The book begins with an explanation of how the sales industry has changed in recent
years.

In the good ‘ol days, sales speaker Neil Rackham believed that there were only three
things sales managers need to succeed:

• Selection: recruiting highly-skilled salespeople

• Strategy: creating a sales plan that can help them attract and retain accounts
• Skills: training them in the art of persuasive sales calls

A long time ago, recruiting the right people and making as many sales calls would gua-
rantee your victory, however, times have changed.

The modern sales process features fancy CRM tools and detailed reports with tons of
numbers and sales metrics. It’s easier than ever to share resources with your partners
and get in touch with potential prospects through social media.

Sad thing is, despite all this, sales management does not have a framework or training
manual. While you have all the tools, which methodologies will help you sell more?

In the book’s prologue, Neil Rackham writes that the modern sales industry requires
three M’s:

• Management: managing your sales team

• Metrics: identifying metrics that align sales activities with sales goals
• Methodology: formulating and executing a precise and methodological strategy

Successful sales don’t happen by chance.

Sales managers must be trained to identify metrics and formulate methodologies so

their sales teams can sell more.

To prove this, Jordan partnered with the Sales Education Foundation. His team asked
sales leaders to submit a list of metrics which help them monitor and improve their sales
performance.

By aggregating a grand total of 306 sales metrics, Jordan hoped that he could categori-
ze these metrics in such a way that they can function as pulleys and levers that control
a sales force.

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2. Sales Metrics: Manageable vs Unmana-
geable
Metrics like customer retention and number of calls measure sales activities and sales
results.

We know that they’re somehow connected and Jordan’s goal was to understand the
relationship between these different metrics.

How to start this insurmountable task? He asked one question:

How ‘manageable’ is this metric?

Jordan believed that sales metrics existed in a spectrum of unmanageable vs. manage-
able.

A manageable metric could be directly influenced by doing something differently and an

unmanageable metric could not.

Manageable metric
A manageable metric is controllable.

For example, the number of prospecting sales calls is manageable because a sales ma-
nager can instruct a salesperson to make X number of calls per day. The number of
sales reps per manager is also manageable because executives can easily change the
amount of people in a team.

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Unmanageable metric
An unmanageable metric is uncontrollable.

For example, revenue is influenced by a variety of factors like market demand, manufac-
turing and economy.

If you lived in a sales utopia, you can easily aim for $1 million in profits. Unfortunately,
the amount of revenue you target is influenced by a lot of factors that are out of your
control.

3. Activities, Objectives & Results:

Manageable or Not?
We know sales metrics are either manageable or unmanageable so how is this useful?

Jordan started painting the big picture. He categorized the 306 metrics into 3 main ca-
tegories based on their manageability below.
• Sales Activities: metrics can be managed and controlled at will.
• Sales Objectives: metrics can be influenced by managing sales activities
• Sales Results: metrics cannot be managed although the results can be influenced
by managing sales activities and sales objectives.

Let’s discuss how he arrived at this conclusion.

Sales Activities
Sales Activities are manageable because a sales manager can easily change the activi-
ties of their sales force.

Here are some examples:

• Time Spent Coaching Reps
• Number of Call Plans Completed
• Number of Calls Made per Day

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Sales Objective
Sales objectives are the goals of the sales team.

Sales objective can be found in the middle of the spectrum of manageable vs. unmana-
geable. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why.

If you want to aim for Revenue X, then you need to set objectives to help you reach your
desired goal. These objectives will determine the sales activities that you need to make
in the future.

Here are some examples:

• Percentage of Customer Retention
• Percentage of Target Customers Contacted
• Number of New Customers Acquired

Business results
Business results are the result of everything that you did.

Sure, profits can be influenced by sales objectives and sales activities. Unfortunately,
you can’t control it and it can change based on many factors like marketing, manufac-
turing, finance and competition.

Here are some examples:

• Revenue
• Revenue Growth
• Revenue per Sales Rep

Connecting the dots

Now that we’ve categorized them based on manageability, how can you connect the
dots?

Their relationships are quite simple:

Sales activity (manageable) -> Sales objective (can be influenced) -> Sales results
(unmanageable)

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This simple graphic shows that sales results might be out of our control but the num-
bers you get can be managed through sales activities which are influenced by sales
objectives.

If you’re having trouble understanding how this causal chain looks, here’s a real-life
example:

4. Types of Sales Activities

We can’t control revenue so let’s focus on the stuff that we can control — sales activities.

The sales activities you perform are be based on your company, industry and customers.

There are so many sales activities, however, there’s no framework of activities that will
get your sales team to where you want them to be. There are no building blocks that tell
you how things work.

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Most sales managers make-up their own strategies and tell their salespeople: SELL
MORE!

They say you have to work smart, not just work hard — and the same is true for sales. A
study by CSO Insights found that sales teams with a defined sales plan won 53% of their
forecasted deals, and only 43% were won by those that used informal process.

Sadly, only 60% of salespeople said they used informal processes and lacked a sales
methodology.

Jordan believed that the sales activities in every sales plan functioned as command
options. If you knew the right buttons to push, then you can forge a path to success. A
study by CSO Insights even found that sale processes could help salespeople sell 23%
more.

To make sense of sales activities he categorized them into five groups that we bet you’re
familiar with:

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Call management process
The call management process is used to improve the quality of sales calls.

The call management process entails getting sales reps to prepare for important calls.
That means call-planning exercises where salespeople can set clear objectives, antici-
pate the buyer’s response and brainstorm alternatives when deals don’t go as planned.

After their assigned calls are done, salespeople must have a debriefing session with
their sales managers. They then break down the positive and negative outcomes of the
conversations — and how they can do better in the future.

Take a look at this template for sales call plans:

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Here are some examples of sample metrics:
• Number of Calls Made
• % of Reps that Completed Call Plans
• Percentage of Reps Using Designated Scripts and/or Email Templates

Opportunity Management
Opportunity management is used when a sales team must qualify, plan and analyze a
single multistage sales pursuit.

This is used when companies have to bid and compete to score a profitable deal with big
companies. It’s also a preferable sales activity when organizations want to strategically
analyze the profitability of potential customers, instead of saying yes to every opportu-
nity.

For example, a salesperson may qualify opportunities by collecting information about

the customer’s profile, revenue, annual reports, industry authority and credibility.

Here’s how an opportunity management process looks like:

This enables salespeople to assess which opportunities will get them closer to their de-
sired business results.

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Here are some sample metrics:
• Win Rate
• % of Qualified Opportunities
• Opportunities by Stage

Opportunity managers can use the template below to evaluate each opportunity:

Territory Management
Territory management is used when salespeople target customers based on a set of at-
tributes or sales territory. A sales territory can be a defined industry, size or geography.

This sales process allocates managers in such a way that they can meet face-to-face
with the most number of qualified customers. This means salesperson A may focus on
acquiring customers in city A while salesperson B may focus on acquiring customers in
city B.

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Since customer demographics and psychographics may differ based on their territory,
this sales activity requires customer segmentation. A sales manager may then design
customer call patterns that are personalized for each customer segment.

Here are some sample metrics:

• Number of Meetings per Year
• Number of Customers per Rep
• % of Contact with New Buyers

Take a look at this target call pattern from the book:

In the example above, the number of sales reps per customer segment could be based
on profitability. An organization may assign more sales reps for national accounts and
large companies because it could offer higher profitability. Meanwhile, less salespeople
are assigned to handle smaller companies because of lower profitability.

Account Management
Account management’s objective is to increase revenue from a select group of custo-
mers.

This sales activity is a must when a significant portion of an organization’s revenue co-
mes from a select group of buyers.

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It starts with the creation of an account strategy that aligns a company’s needs with the
needs of its select customers.

Companies then coordinate their external and internal resources to improve or maintain
the value of the account. Some activities include engaging in face-to-face meetings to
build the relationship and negotiating contracts to maximize profits.

Here are some examples:

• Share of Wallet
• Percentage of Account Plans in Place
• Percentage of Account Plans Complete.

A Key Account Plan is often used to establish strategic goals for each account:

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Sales Force Enablement
Sales Force Enablement activities are used to improve how salespeople do their job.

This process includes investing a lot of money in providing coaching, training and re-
sources to boost the capability of a sales force. It may also consider assessing perfor-
mance based on various methodologies and tools.

Here are some metrics:

• Average Cost of Training by Salesperson
• Average Level of Satisfaction with Sales Training
• Time Spent Coaching

While companies pour a lot of money in education, they also want to hire determined
and skilled salespeople. So, sales force enablement also emphasizes recruitment and
hiring efforts.

5. Which Sales Process Is Right For Your

Business?
We’ve introduced several sales processes but which one is right for your business?

Most businesses will probably use a mix of several sales processes, while others might
want to try them all. Sales managers don’t want their team to perform different activi-
ties or projects that they start to lose focus.

That’s why Jordan believed that an assigned sales processes is determined by the roles
and responsibilities of each selling role.

This makes a lot of sense because each sales process is characterized by a different set
of metrics. For instance, a salesperson in a call management role assesses performance
through a different set of metrics as compared to account managers or territory mana-
gers.

We bet that there are lots of sales process used by sales teams but there’s no need to be
intimidated. Pinpointing the ideal sales process begins through identifying the selling
roles in your sales force.

Here are some guidelines that you can use to find out the right process for each sales-
person:

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Call Management
Call management is used when a sales call has a big impact on closing a sale.
If a salesperson makes low to moderate number of significant calls, then use this pro-
cess to plan conversations ahead and achieve your desired outcome.

Opportunity Management
Opportunity management is used when a salesperson pursues strategic and multistage
deals.
Since a company’s time and resources are precious, some organizations engage in the-
se activities to qualify multistage opportunities before pursuing them.

Account Management
Account management is used when a salesperson wants an ongoing business relati-
onship with a customer.

It’s no secret that some accounts are worth more than others. That’s why this is used
when a company must maintain customer relationships because they provide huge be-
nefits and sizeable profits.

Territory Management
Territory management is used when customers are segmented.

Each segment has different characteristics, so territory management is necessary when

an organization needs to implement different strategies for each type.

To succeed through this process, a sales team must widen their market reach. So, this
requires them to manage their time wisely and make as many calls as possible.

Sales Force Enablement

Sales Force Enablement is used when the company makes managing decisions such
as recruiting, organizing, coaching, training and resource allocation to improve sales
performance.

Once you’ve chosen a sales process, examine its alignment with your organization’s
needs and salespeople’s responsibilities. Pick the process that will help your team ac-
complish their sales goals.

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6. Know Your Sales Objectives
How do you achieve your desired sales results?

They say you should work smarter, not harder — and the same applies in sales.

To recap, the researchers categorized sales metrics based on their manageability:

Sales activity (manageable) -> Sales objective (neutral) -> Sales results (unmana-
geable)

The image shows that you can’t manage sales results.

Fortunately, you can manage sales activities and we’ve identified the sales processes
that you can control — Account Management, Opportunity Management, Call Manage-
ment, Territory Management and Sales Force Enablement.

These activities are highly manageable but they must be aligned with your business'
objectives to make an impact on your desired results.

For example, your Sales Objective could be to upsell a premium line of upgraded pro-
ducts to past customers.

This could be achieved through sales activities like training sales reps and managing
accounts. It’s not strategic to sell your premium products at random. However, you can
set an objective and opt to contact current accounts and train sales reps to sell better.

The bottomline is: Managing Sales Activities Helps You Fulfill Your Sales Objectives.
Types of Sales Objectives

Sales Objectives might not be completely manageable, but they come with a set of
measurable metrics.

It may seem intimidating to determine your sales objectives when you know they have a
big impact on sales results. However, Jordan believes that you can identify your objec-
tives based on the metrics that you want to focus on.

Jordan’s team of researchers found that objectives could be classified into four main
types.

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Market Coverage
Market Coverage objectives determine your sales force’s capability and resources to
cover the market thoroughly. Your target market coverage can impact hiring decisions,
number of sales calls and recruitment.

Sample metrics include:

• Measures of Market Coverage
• Number of Total Selling Hours
• Percentage of Customers Contacted

Sales Force Capability

Sales Force Capability objectives explore a sales teams effectivity in closing more deals.

The amount of calls and opportunities pursued can have a direct impact on the number
of deals won.

We all know that a sales team’s capability can improve with the right mentorship and
training. So, Sales Force Enablement activities like coaching and assessments belong
in this category.

Sample metrics include:

• Proposal Win Rates
• Percentage Deals Advancing by Stage (2)
• Pipeline Realization Rate

Customer Focus
Customer Focus objectives delve into your sales team’s ability to attain, retain and in-
crease your ideal number of customers. A sales team may qualify or disqualify custo-
mers based on their location and profitability.

Here are some examples of customer focus metrics:

• Customer Churn Rate
• Customer Lifetime Value
• Repeat Purchase Rate

Product Focus
Product Focus objectives determine the effectiveness of your salesforce in selling your
preferred products.For instance, account managers could create strategies to upsell
products to their existing clients.

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It could also be used to evaluate a sales team’s success in selling a new line of products.

Here are some examples of product focus metrics:

• Revenue by Product
• Revenue by Product Line
• Average Cross-sell and Upsell Rate of Partner Customers

Combining Sales Processes & Sales Objective

Jordan believes that your sales objectives will influence the sales activities that your
team will perform.

For instance, an Opportunity Management Process aligns with objectives like Customer
Focus and Product Focus because you aim to choose strategic relationships that will
pay off over time. However, it’s not suitable for goals related to Market Coverage becau-
se this process focuses on getting as many customers as possible to cover the entire
territory.

Now, how can you determine which sales activities align with your sales objectives?
Jordan has a chart that shows how certain sales processes drive specific objectives.

Want to expand your market coverage? Focus on territory management and sales for-
ce enablement. How will your sales team improve your account management process?
Take a look at customer focus and product focus.

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7. Putting It All Together
The book has consistently emphasized AOR metrics such as the following:
• Sales Activities
• Sales Objectives
• Sales Results

Now, how do they all come together?

Jason Jordan found that these metrics are interconnected.

To reach your sales goals, you must devote time to planning your sales activities and
sales objectives.

While sales revenue may be out of your control, you can focus on the sales activities that
you can control.

Jordan’s analysis makes a lot of sense, but its implementation may seem daunting for
first-time readers. Fortunately, Jordan summarized how to crack the sales manage-
ment code through a simple 6-step process:

• Define the Business Results you want.

• Identify and analyze the Sales Objectives that will help you achieve your desired
Sales Results.
• Select Sales Processes that can impact your Sales Objectives.
• Determine Sales Activities within those processes that you can manage on a daily
basis.
• Set quantified targets and metrics to monitor your chosen Activities, Objectives
and Results.
• Manage

There may be different types of sales management jobs like Area Sales Manager and
General Sales Manager but the path to success is the same.

An organization must specify their Activities, Objectives and Results in their sales plan.
This way, you can make sense of the various numbers that you get every month/quar-
ter/year.

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8. The Challenge for Sales Managers
The sales management code seems easy and formulaic in theory.

However, experienced sales managers will know that its implementation comes with a
few challenges.

The first challenge is that sales managers need to determine the Sales Objectives that
they will target. Some may focus on a sales territory though they may have a hard time
deciding whether to attract current customers or identify new prospects. There’s no
harm in choosing to do a little of both, but choosing a lot may lead to a lack of focus.

The second challenge is to choose metrics to measure the performance of each sales
reps. This can be a tedious task for large sales teams with different roles and job des-
criptions. Although the ability to monitor and adjust their sales activities, will pay off in
the long-run.

Another challenge is that different sales role may use different sales processes, pursue
different objectives and require different metrics. Some reps may focus on increasing
market coverage while others are assigned to focus on a specific product.

While this can be a challenge for sales executives, Jason Jordan proposed that compa-
nies should train sales managers to develop their own AOR metrics (activities, objecti-
ves and results) on the field.

An ideal sales manager must be highly skilled in creating AOR frameworks. When sa-
les managers can determine relevant metrics for every employee, they can ensure that
every effort aligns with the objectives and desired results of the organization.

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