Sales managers, the unsung heroes. 

The coaches, the motivational speakers, and the strategists behind successful sales teams. In today’s fast-moving world, modern sales managers face numerous challenges.

They are not just accountable for driving revenue and ensuring sales team collaboration amidst distractions and ever-changing demands. This job is definitely not for the faint of heart.

However, there is one major roadblocks that can get in the way of sales reps closing deals: silos.

And for sales managers, these pesky silos could be the difference between a successful team and one that’s consistently falling short.

What is a silo in the context of sales?

In the business world silos are referenced when there is a breakdown of communication — when individuals, teams, or even whole departments are operating separately from one another.

When it comes to closing more deals in modern sales, transparency and communication are key. So, what are the silos that impact a rep’s ability to close a deal?

Here are the five most common sales silos that cost sales managers deals in complex sales environments.

1. Cross-Functional Sales Team Silos

In an ideal world the sales process is a seamless flow of cross-functional work.

It involves teams from marketing, sales, customer success, and product, each playing a vital role in the buyer journey. And despite our best intentions, communication and data transfer often fail to flow during key sales handoffs points.

When Marketing hands leads to Sales, and Sales pass accounts to customer success teams, critical information usually gets lost. Sales teams usually disengage from customers once contracts are signed, leaving the CS team to pick up the pieces.

This lack of continuity can lead to customer dissatisfaction, longer time to value and misalignment between teams.

Furthermore, the misalignment between marketing and sales on goals, lead quality, and customer needs can create friction, throwing another wrench into the sales process. On top of that, product teams may struggle to understand customer preferences and the obstacles within the buying process, which makes their effectiveness fall off too.

2. Sales Manager-to-Rep Silos.

Same team, but,… really?

Effective sales management hinges on a manager’s ability to maintain a clear and comprehensive picture of what their reps are working on. However, manager-AE silos can obscure this picture and leave sales managers grasping in the dark.

Communication and transparency are often lacking, forcing managers to repeatedly ping reps (they love that…) for insights on deals. These silos can interrupt the flow of information crucial for decision-making on both ends.

To break down these barriers, organizations can implement weekly expectation-setting measures. For instance, scheduling forecasts and pipeline reviews once a week or asking that deals must be fully updated before one-on-one meetings can enhance transparency, communication, and trust.

I’ve seen the best sales managers running more strategic deal reviews and stop playing catch up during one-on-ones. Here, at Dooly, they happen in our built-in DealSpace.

With DealSpace it’s easier to review deal information in customizable deal-by-deal layouts that show exactly what you want to know about each deal. 

3. Data Silos: what can’t be measured, doesn’t exist.

Data is the lifeblood of sales, especially in today’s world. bBut when it’s trapped in silos, it becomes much less valuable.

Often, organizations lack a shared language for data and metrics, which makes it challenging to track progress effectively.

Without a clear “north star” metric that aligns the entire go-to-market team, misaligned goals can lead to confusion, with various teams moving in different directions while assuming their way is the way it’s supposed to work.

4. Sales Silos when moving upmarket.

Many companies are shifting their focus upmarket, targeting larger and more complex (and lucrative) clients. However, this shift necessitates strong and open communication between marketing, product, finance, and sales teams more than ever, and many teams fail to adjust as they move into the bigger leagues.

Product teams must adapt their offerings to suit the enterprise audience, while marketing must allocate budgets to effectively reach this new target market wherever they may be.

Finance teams must comprehend the impact of these changes on timelines, forecasting, sales cycles, and more.

Sales managers, meanwhile, must understand the changing on-the-ground insights, and must play a pivotal role in conveying these changes to all their teams to ensure a smooth transition.

5. Deal Complexity creates standalone barriers

As technology and the sales landscape evolves, deals are becoming more complex. Multiple stakeholders are involved, and the sales cycle has lengthened.

To address these challenges, team selling has become crucial. Sales managers must encourage multi-threading and promote sales collaboration and communication across teams to navigate these intricate deals successfully.

Any sales manager who prioritizes breaking down silos will see their star rise, and will have the gratitude of their reps (and company management).

The sales manager of the future will not only get down in the weeds with their reps, they will also look at the big picture. And if you can get the big stuff right, then the small stuff will fall into place as well.