On a recent project I was asked by a CEO what he could do to make his sales managers more effective.
Some generalised observations: Most organisations promote their best sales people into sales management roles without any formal management training. The best sales people do NOT necessarily make the best sales managers but normally organisational rewards and recognition systems lead the best sales people into thinking that this is the only way they can progress their careers. When in the sales management role the biggest challenge is moving their own mind set from ‘doing’ to ‘enabling others’.
I offered this advice: To give your sales managers a chance of success, ensure that their sales teams have a process and structure behind the three main types of sales activity:
- Account plans
- Opportunity management and qualification
- Customer meetings
The job of the sales manager is to coach, develop and motivate the individuals within their teams, ensuring that the requisite skills and knowledge are in place. The key skill in any coaching role is to be able to hit the ‘emotional pause button’ and ask questions and listen. This generally is a very hard skill to develop for any manager but especially sales managers who have come up through the ranks.
What you reward and recognise drives behaviour, yet most sales leaders say that they want their sales management teams to spend more time on developing and coaching their teams. Why is it that many organisations do not openly acknowledge and reward this behaviour?
Mckinsey Consulting use a term they called “key role”, I would contend that in any sales organisation the sales manager is the key role. They are the individuals that are at the core of changing a profession (sales) that has traditionally been the last bastion of the ‘happy amateur’ into a respected and aspirational profession.
It is also the sales manager’s role to ensure that ethical best practice exists alongside the sales process noted above.
I would also suggest that:
- the rewards and recognition system is aligned to ‘promoting’ sales people within the sales role, so that they do not aspire to sales management.
- the bonus structure rewards the sales management for the development of their people not just on the hard results.
By Mark Williams | Righttrack Sales Specialist