The vast majority of unsuccessful companies never really get a handle on their sales force. While they invest large amounts of human and financial capital in the training of their front-line salespeople, they often make a mistake by not doing the same for their sale’s managers. Instead, they simply promote one of the more successful reps, make him a “manager” and hope he learns on the job. Unfortunately, this strategy doesn’t usually work out that well.
The proper way to get the most out of a sales training budget is to gear it towards the entire sales hierarchy and not just at the most inexperienced members. One primary goal of this strategy should be to train sales managers on the management side of their job and not just expect them to expound upon their sales skills to their subordinates.
The Underlying Problem
Lack of training can do more than lose you a promising sales manager and otherwise excellent salesperson, it can demoralize your entire staff and lose you customers in the process. Here are just a few behaviors of poor sales managers that will help you to recognize if yours is undertrained:
Reverting to Selling Instead of Leading
At some point, your sales manager must realize that they are not a glorified salesperson and that their continued success now depends on leading their team and not just meeting an individual sales goal. This predilection can manifest itself in odds ways. For example, spending the bulk of their time with the best salespeople – who don’t really need coaching – and not with the under performers is one of the classic signs of a non-leader.
Not Setting Priorities for Themselves and Their Team
Inexperienced sales managers can get bogged down in the minutiae of their jobs if not trained properly. While they seem to be working hard, it is more as the proverbial “firefighter” than as a true leader. Any crisis will derail their best laid plans and they never seem to have the time to do the real work of teaching and coaching their team. In short, the whole sales effort becomes an ad-hoc attempt to meet goals without any clear, overriding sense of purpose.
Being Unable to Diagnose Performance Issues within Their Team
As any successful sales manager will tell you, there are reps who lack the “skill” and those who lack the “will.” Each must not only be recognized for their particular shortcoming but also must be handled in a specific manner. Simply relating to the reps that goals have not been met rather than offering concrete and actionable ways to resolve the issue is simply self-defeating.
Accepting Mediocrity and Failing to Act in a Timely Manner
While every sales person deserves the chance to develop their skills, it is a mistake for a sales manager to let the process drag on too long. If mediocrity becomes the norm, then “star” performers will take the hint and the entire department will start to underperform. Instead, a properly trained sales manager will take the time to coach a failing salesperson and, if not successful, will move them on to greener pastures.
Allowing the Prima-Donnas to Dictate Policy
Prima-donnas are not always the best salespeople on the team but they are the most vocal. A good sales manager avoids conflict with these “know-it-alls” by establishing standards of behavior – not sales goals, mind you – that induce behaviors in the sales team that lead to better results. Minimum numbers of phone calls and sales meetings set are two prime examples. The sales manager then ensures that every member of the team, regardless of their current numbers, is meeting or exceeding these standards.
Not Creating a Development Plan
For better or worse, the average sales person will go after the “low hanging fruit” in their territory. Once these potential clients are exhausted, the sales reps will turn to their manager and ask for guidance on how to proceed. It is a very poor sales manager indeed who fails to see this day coming. Instead, top sales managers will identify areas of interest and structure a cohesive plane to penetrate that market. In addition, they will also identify obstacles and ways to overcome them. In this way, the sales manager becomes the source of leads and not the source of aggravation.
Failing to Monitor the Situation
The best plans are ruined by good intentions and no action. It is up to the sales manager to ensure that the proper procedures are being monitored through adequate follow-up. Train them to have the courage to challenge their team and to question their own actions.
The Bottom Line
As you probably realize, the real peril for your Paul or Pauline is that the daily administrative functions start to overwhelm their working hours. Instead of focusing on developing their team, the sales managers are forced into a bookkeeping role. Needless to say, all aspects of the selling process suffer when this occurs.
Avoiding this pitfall is as simple as providing your sales managers with the proper HCM tools. Whether you decide to implement an HRIS to monitor many of the more routine metrics or outsource the job to a PEO, your sales managers will be able to concentrate on the real task at hand, growing and developing your sales force.