Sales Management – is it an art or a science?

It is always interesting to see different people’s take on sales as art vs. sales as science.

For some reason, today, I started wondering about sales management is it an art or a science?

the ART
> understanding the rhythm of the sales floor, and how to change it, is critical to your success.
> painting a picture of what success could look like for each member of your team, uses imagination.
> molding salespeople means you have to understand what shape they are willing to take and work with them to get there.

the SCIENCE
> like in sales, sales management has a process to follow
> using the wrong proportions of encouragement, constructive criticism, leadership, and management will prove disastrous
> experimentation uses trial and error to achieve mastery and success.

Thinking about it has convinced me that sales management is a combination of art and science NOT one or the other. What do you think?

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