Sales, more than ever, needs leadership that leads by example. Why? Sales professionals are a quirky, ego-driven group who value success to benchmark -- over achievement on targets, plaques on the wall, etc. At the minimum, sales management has to establish credibility with the team that they're leading.
The challenge to many organizations, however, are those great attributes don't always translate well into sales management. The best salespeople don't always make the best sales managers. Managing sales people has to be one of THE most challenging group there is. It's a rollercoaster ride, regardless to the extent of sales background.
Bluntly: It is a waste of time and resources having a sales manager as a figurehead. Very often, everyone wants to jump in the sales game once they smell a live opportunity. Yet what happens long before that? Sales reps do know how to survive. What other occupation is there that potentially pays you nothing or very little unless you produce results? That survival instinct, allows them to get the heart of opportunities for sales ... at times, that means who will give them the answer they want the quickest. Many organizations fail their sales managers from this syndrome because at the heart of good intentions is communications or priorities from multiple direction. The best opportunities sometimes come after a painfully long process or so quick you have to jump on it. Have a sales manager who is equipped to handle both scenarios with authority.
If the sales manager's boss jumps in at the last minute or to give authority, then why wouldn't a sales rep just go to them to begin with? After all, salespeople are showman who like to make sure the boss' boss knows they've got a live one! Essentially, what can happen is that the sales manager's authority is undermined, corners can be cut. Sales management WORTH can be directly attributed to the support they receive from their managers and organizations, not just the revenue that is being generated TODAY. Yet planning, analyzing and forecasting eventually leads to "today".
Strong sales managers means you can identify and attract talent. Human Resources and even executives can be tricked into thinking they've found the perfect sales rep because they've been won over by that polish, articulate smooth talk, sales-ease babble, hunting tactics, fish stories and geez, so damn personable to them they must be able to sell. Did you see how shiney the shoes were? Must be "the one". Then there is the snowman. The true sales manager that can cut through all the decoys and ask for proof, role play with situations, or just know by asking a candidate or employee what they do to be successful, or questions within questions that can cut through the snowjob.
There are numerous discussions on bad sales managers or whether you should promote your top performer to be a sales manager. My recommendation would be to focus on what a good sales manager should do and be allowed to do, with your support. Introducing the sales manager role into an organization can be a challenge from both sides. Primarily, letting go by those that want to keep their "finger on the pulse". Mixed-messaging causes more harm than good. You have to believe in the management you have in place, experienced or otherwise. Build trust between you so that they won't overstep financial risk and have the skills to analyse potentially. You need to comprehend that you hired them because you believed in what they could do, agreed upon what results would be expected, established timelines and gave authority perimeters. You both have synergies in styles, expectations and messaging -- so back them up!!
Now you have a few ideas on what a sales manager should do. Are you going to jump in or trust them to do their job?
Hello from another Jeannette. I agree that if you have a sales manager let her do her job by giving her the authority along with the responsibility. I wrote a blog about this recently http://bit.ly/az3L7P entitled: "Do We Need Chief Sales Managers Anymore?" It wasn't my original idea, but from an article in Selling Power magazine. The main point of my blog is that we've become overrun with "chief" titles in organizations, like chief revenue officer, chief nursing officer -- and now chief sales officer. But that's only me talking.
ReplyDeleteI work in retail where we have departments. There are two Department Sales Managers (DSM) and one Sales Manager(SM). The DSM's manage big volume departments which require most of their attention. The SM manages a lower volume department but is expected to take on a role in driving sales. The SM is expected to have larger personal sales than the DSM's because of this. The SM is usually hired as a junior manager. I was an SM for a few years before I was promoted to DSM. Basically the company hires an SM to learn the ropes, drive sales and have an active role as a manager, later to be promoted when they know enough and are interested enough to take on larger responsibilities. It seems backwards to me. It looks large on a resume, but smaller in the work place. This blog post has helped me identify the need for me to coach the SM into his role and help him get promoted. I feel like in my work place SM's should have more initiatives with the staff in driving sales rather than being the junior manager. We run over our own feet far too often and we need someone to take the reins rather than training someone to be a leader for the sake of not calling a spade a spade.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Lonnie! I would imagine that you would be considered a "successful" DSM if you help more SMs get promoted by coaching them BECAUSE they are driving more sales by engaging more staff to help them - a trickle down effect. Ultimately, everyone benefits when revenues increase. Engaging and recognizing staff who drive sales starts a cycle of ownership of the dept's success .. opposite waiting for direction from above. You're right, by coaching the SMs "leadership" rather than "direction".
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