Being a sales manager is no easy job. It’s got a ton of stress, and it’s going to require every ounce of managerial decision-making skills to be great at it – especially in this time of global recession.

But do you know what’s worse than having to make a sale when everyone else is cutting back? Managing a team of sales underperformers.

The biggest stress of all comes when a sales managers sales team can’t even make quota. What could be more awkward than that? (more…)

One time I was out on the field with one of my sales reps and we needed to stop by his house so I could file a periodic inventory of his product samples and supplies.

In the house, he led me to a modest home office. The plaques and various awards on display immediately got my attention, neatly lined up on the shelves attached to the wall on one side of the room. I recognized one of the cards on display—an award I gave to him three months ago to acknowledge his great sales performance. My sales rep turned to me and said, “It’s one of the most meaningful tokens of appreciation I’ve received in my entire life.” He told me he values it more than anything on those shelves. (more…)

I used to work for a company that tried to change me into someone I just was not. In an interview, the HR manager said, “This company will help you overcome your weaknesses by thrusting you into different kinds of situations. We will help you grow to become a completely different person.”

Here is the thing. There’s nothing wrong with “overcoming your weaknesses“. But to turn me into a “completely different person,” that’s something else.

Back then I didn’t realize the repercussions of that statement. Now that I’ve got years of experience as a sales manager, I know better than to try and change my sales reps into something they’re not.

My sales reps are themselves. They are not their colleagues. They are not their friends. They are not me. (more…)

There are two kinds of sales managers. The first one, a more focused type, concentrates on improving his sales reps’ strengths while downplaying their weaknesses. The second type of sales manager is one who shapes his sales reps to become all around regular jack-of-all-trades.

Which sales manager is more effective?

Imagine a clear glass ceiling over the heads of your salespeople. The height of the ceiling represents the amount of talent each salesperson possesses—some high, some low. The question is: can a person who lacks certain core talents for the job ever be successful in his or her line of work? The answer is NO.

Every person is unique, and therefore every salesperson is unique as well. And all this uniqueness add up to vastly different potentials. If you try to make them something they are not…its one of the worst things you could do as a sales manager. (more…)