The Biggest Mistake Sales Managers Make
May 25th, 2010
“Sorry, I’m swamped right now”
“I need to call you back, I’m way behind right now”…
“I’m up to my ears right now…”
Does this sound like your sales managers?
No doubt, in the hectic corporate environment, there is a big tendency for sales managers to get bogged down and extremely busy. The front-line sales manager has so many forces all converging upon him: salespeople, customers, upper level executives, training people, operational departments; all vying for the sales manager’s time.
But by far the biggest drain on the average sales managers time is one thing and one thing only: the sales manager doing their salespeople’s job for them!
Maybe its because most sales managers were typically pretty good salespeople that were promoted to management, and dealing with the daily activites of the sale rep is what they’re most comfortable with. Whatever the reason, it’s counterproductive and takes up way too much of the average sales managers daily activities.
Here’s the real problem: while a sales manager spends all of his time doing the job of their sales rep, this activity has a dual effect:
1. It mucks up their time and bogs the sales manager down – obviously.
2. It creates a co-dependent cycle with the salesperson that’s both destructive and de-motivating.
Here’s what I mean. Let’s say that one of your sales managers sales reps calls him repeatedly and asks him the same kind of question he’s been asking you for the last three months.
What does the sales manager typically do?
without really thinking, the sales manager usually answers the questions.
So what do you think the sales rep will do the next time he has the same question?
That’s right – he’ll call the sales manager again, and again, and again, and so on…
Worse yet, the sales rep calls, the sales manager take the call, answers the question, and if he doesn’t know the exact answer or has to talk to someone before he can answer the question he’ll end up saying: “OK, I’ll have to get back to you on that…”
The sales manager, (trying to help of course, because he is a very attentive and caring sales manager, after all) now needs to make five other calls to three other people and seven emails to five different people to get the answer to the question he was just asked!!!
Meanwhile, more emails and messages continue to pile up in the sales manager’s inbox and voice mailbox that he needs to answer…because those are even more questions that require even more phone calls and emails to even more people and so on and on it goes….
(I think I have to stop and take a break for a minute, because my chest is starting to tighten)….
Most sales managers are unfortunately under the mistaken impression that they must do the work of their salespeople. And in doing so, they need put in extremely long hours in order to achieve the success they desire.
If you were doing the jobs of ten people when would you ever get a break?
No wonder so many sales managers are completely overwhelmed!
This is by far, the biggest mistake sales managers make.
Here’s the paradox…the best sales managers actually get more out of their salespeople when they do less for them!
Huh?
The best sales managers eliminate themselves as “tollbooths through which all decisions must pass” by empowering their salespeople to make decisions on their own.
The completely counter-intuitive effects of this “removing the tollbooth” approach is:
1. This actually MOTIVATES the sales rep to do even more – because they’ll feel the empowerment of “doing it on their own”
2. This then leads to a reverse insanity spiral of the sales manager doing less work….your company’s salespeople doing more
3. You ALL make more money
And while the sales rep is doing all the work your sales managers used to do, they are now far more focused on “the important stuff” – namely the stuff that will help both you and the company to sell more effectively and make more money, while achieving the success you have all been dreaming of.
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