The other stuff…

Periodically, I’m asked about first-time, Sales Manager training programs.  It reminds me of our country’s roads and bridges:  Always in need of repair; never enough funding.

Most Sales Manager training programs contain all of the “usual stuff” and most miss this list of the “other stuff”:

1. STOP! - Don’t become a Sales Manager.  I’ve seen too many top salespeople decide they needed a “promotion” and if they don’t get one they leave.  (Yes, speaking from personal experience.)  Too many companies artificially create an environment that if someone is not moving up; they must be moving down.  It’s not true.
2. People are temporary; process is long-lasting.  36 months +/-.  After 36 months if our sales rep is successful, he or she will likely seek a promotion (per above) or will be recruited away.  One of my managers and mentors, Tom McSweeney, taught me; recruit them; develop them; and enjoy them while you have them.
3. People are messy.  I couldn’t avoid my reps telling me I was unfair.  So, I adopted a policy of “Equal Unfairness”.  If everyone felt I was unfair, that meant I was being equally unfair; and equal unfairness is fair.
4. Inspection is a bitch.  A Sales Manager’s primary responsibility is to inspect.  The better we are at inspection, the more our people will dislike it and us.
5. We’re being watched.  Not with an admiring eye, but usually derision. The rep who thought they should have our role; the rep who hates inspection; the other departments who hate sales.  A Sales Manager’s primary responsibility is to lead by example.
6. Missed sales weeks kill the year.  Sales Managers (like many managers) don’t like to quickly and directly address problems.  If we wait until we have open positions, it’s too late.  A Sales Manager’s primary responsible is to continuously recruit.  Your next open position is coming, trust me.
7. I worry less about how we hire; I worry more about how we fire.  Not everyone can do this for a living.  Research suggests Sales Managers develop an accurate, gut feeling about each new hire within 72 hours!  If our new rep is not doing the right things in the right way, we must fire them and recruit another.  Easy to blog about – hard to do in the real world
8. On-boarding…  A Sales Manager’s primary responsibility is to ensure our new rep is properly on-boarded.  That doesn’t mean we do their work – the sales rep is responsible for his or her own success.  The Sales Manager can guide them on the “4 A’s”; “Approach”; “Activity”; “Ability”; and “Attitude”.  If our rep is missing any of the A’s, activate the off-boarding process.
9. Invest in top performers.   Research suggests under-performers likely won’t make it.  Phil Jackson succeeded (where previous coaches failed) with Michael, Koby, and Shaque.  He wasn’t their first coach.  But he was the coach on their first championship teams.
10. How much fun are we to work for?  All work + no fun = What’s up with this guy!  If we’re going to do this for a living let’s have some fun and make some money, in that order.

I know I stated more than one “primary responsibility” above.  So I say again, if you’re a successful sales rep, are you certain a Sales Manager “promotion” (aka more work, less pay) is for you?

I needed continuous, expert mentoring because the Peter Principle remains alive and well.

GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.