Sales Progress Blog

1. An inability to teach.

Being able to sell ice to an Eskimo is great, but once your in that management role those skills can render useless unless you are able to pass them on to your team.  Managers are often promoted because of their superior skill, but are rarely trained how to effectively train their staff and pass on their skills.

How can I combat this? If your company doesn’t offer training for mangers, you should take it upon yourself to find some. Read books on coaching or managing effectively, take a vacation day and attend a workshop (even if it’s at your own expense),  or take online courses over your lunch break.  Your investment will be worth it when your team excels, as this will reflect positively on you and your ability to lead and develop your team.

2. They lose touch with reality

Becoming a manager doesn’t mean your done spending time in the field.  It’s true that with management status comes more responsibilities that have less to do with everyday selling, but you can’t lose touch of your selling reality.  As a manager your biggest asset to your team is to know what’s going on in the field, on a day to day basis.

How can I combat this? Ride along with your staff as often as is possible, continue to call on customers even if it is just to check in, and spend time with your staff discussing obstacles or difficult customers and coaching reps to overcome them.

3. They want to be everyone’s friend.

We all want to be liked, it’s human nature. HOWEVER along with your increase in pay and responsibility came the expectation that you are no longer just one of the group.  It is often difficult to step into that leadership role, especially when a manager is promoted from with-in.

How can I combat this? It is still important to build rapport with your team, but relationships should shift into one of coach and team member.  Set clear expectations and roles for your team, and stick to them.  When responsibilities and roles are clearly defined there is no room for confusion; this will make portraying your role as leader easy. By sticking to these expectations,there will be no blurring the lines of your authority.

Did we miss anything?  Tell us what you think the top reasons sales managers fail are.

Shannon Gburzynski Sales Training business coaching, coaching, effective coaching, employee training, Enhance Performance, goals, management leadership training, Manager, Results, sales, Sales Coaching Methodology, Sales Manager, Sales Staff, Skills, training and development, training reinforcement

One of our recent hot client topics has been “Executing Priorities” — setting specific goals, and making an all-out, full-speed effort to hit them. At 11:59 p.m., on New Year’s Eve 2009, you want to say “This was a great year, because we (insert your powerful goal and success here)…”

It doesn’t have to be painful, but it requires some passionate discussion and engagement to narrow the focus to just a few goals. Then, the vast majority of your company’s time can be spent hammering on those measurable goals.

Matt Byrnes Sales Training coaching, goals, planning