Not by design, but this week a number of the discussions I had with prospects/clients had to do with front-line sales managers. This is a good thing since for a long time I have been a firm believer that the biggest bang for the buck in sales improvement training is at the front-line manager level of the organization. While each of the organizations was very different in terms of product and target markets, B2C, B2B, and while they all had different and overlapping issues, there was one they all shared. Their managers were all bird-dogging. We’ve all seen this practice, I’ll admit it, when I was first appointed as a district manager I did, and some VP’s of Sales encourage it.

In case you don’t recognize the expression, this is where the sales team goes out finds potential prospects. They execute a form of “qualification”, usually consisting of reciting highlights of the brochure (you want to save the best parts for a crucial moment), then when the table is set, the Manager comes in to Close the deal. This tribal ritual is played out daily in corporate offices around the planet.

In some ways you can’t blame some of these managers, often they are thrust in to the situation; you’ve seen it or read about it before. “George, you’re one of our best reps; we want to promote you to be the next sales manager” Screwed! George, the company the team, and lets not forget abandoned customers in George’s old territory. Actually the customers often do not suffer as much as the others, because George will soon be back, but with a new card, less time and a bit more distracted while he is trying to fill the open head count.

Now the pressure is on the manager not only to continue to hit quota in his old territory, but to help his team become like George, after all that’s why we made him the manager, he will show the rest of the team how it’s done, and manage and help them. Of course no one tells George how to do that so he figures the best thing is to have his people go out bird-dog for prospects, he will accompany them and show them how to close. Two birds with one stone, close deals and a sales clinic all in one trip. Let’s go!

Unfortunately this scenario is too real and played out too often, and we all know it doesn’t have to be. Many companies don’t have a formal transition path for reps they are promoting to management. Many have the Management by Osmosis approach. Some will tell you they have “A high potential” program that recognizes and preps them for their eventual ascent, but many of these are administrative in nature, and prepare the individual only for internal processes not life as a sales manager.

There are many programs out there that will help prepare the right person for the role. There are many threads on numerous blogs discussing the potential and the practicality of “good sales people” becoming “good sales managers”. (You can read through the discussions on www.salesmanagement20.com or http://thecustomercollective.com for some recent discussion around the topic).

Our experience has been that two areas have to be addressed for a successful transition. First the ability of the new manager to be able to understand and communicate expectations to their team members and identify challenges and gaps in the individuals’ ability to deliver to those understood expectations. Once there is mutual agreement on the gaps and the willingness to address them, there needs to be a mutually agreed to action plan to address these areas. These need to be objective and rooted in helping the team member properly and consistently execute the sales process. Focus is on execution of the process not about the individual and their “shortcomings”. This is where the second element comes in; coaching the individual to help them achieve their goals, both financial goals, and the goals of the immediate action plans that make up the coaching process. (BTW, this process works for building new skills in an already successful rep, just set realistic doable stretches and help them grow, it is not just for underachievers).

This is where many new (and old) managers fail, rather than coaching and helping the individual acquire the necessary skills and habits, the manager “shows” them how its done. The reps see but does not learn. The revenues is always within grasp and the manager would rather reach out and grab it, than use the opportunity to coach and mould the rep to be able to succeed on an ongoing basis. It is the age old drama of not tolerating short term losses for long term success in the form of a fully productive sales team, versus a team that sniffs them out, points and waits for the manager to shoot.

Manage well,
Tibor Shanto – The Pipeline