What seagulls can teach you about top sales leadership
April 2nd, 2009
Ever work for a “Seagull Sales Manager“?
You probably have.
A “Seagull Sales Manager” is a sales manager who seldom interacts with his people but occasionally swoops down, dumps on everybody, and then quickly flies away.
If you haven’t guessed already, this is not exactly the kind of leadership we advocate at Sales Management Mastery…
When you’re all stressed out, sales numbers are plummeting, your reps haven’t brought in any new business in weeks and your boss just called you for the fifth time today to yell at you…do you become a “Seagull Sales Manager”?
Its hard to put your emotions in check and think clearly at times like these…especially in these economic times, when seemingly every prospect is telling your sales reps “no”.
Instead, look at it as an opportunity.
Its in times like these when you need to rise above the pressures, and show your true mettle as a sales manager.
Now is the time to ELEVATE your salespeople, not dump on them…because this is when they need you most.
Anyone can manage a sales team when times are good. But the top sales managers are at their BEST when times are WORST.
This is “the crucible” of sales management.
Establish trust instead. Go ahead, make those “Trust Account” deposits – and do it by making a connection.
(If you dont know what ”The Trust Account” is, then get your copy of the Free Video and Audio on How to Motivate Your Sales Team from the form on the right hand side of this blog!)
To build connections and gain understanding, top-performing sales managers need to come out from behind their desks and embrace a “get in your grill” passion for interaction.
As we learned in my last post, Ken Blanchard called it “Management By Walking Around” or MBWA.
So get out in the environment of your sales reps…all the while you’re making more deposits in “The Trust Account”…
And whatever you do, stay away from the seagulls.
Post a comment to this blog and tell me how you make a connection with your salespeople!
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