Do you have the right sales manager working for you?
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It's always risky to oversimplify something as complex as sales management. On the other hand, it can be a great way to cut through and achieve meaningful self-awareness.
The least effective managers are your “Administrative sales manager”
They prefer to manage from behind the desk
They believe their role is to protect their sales people. Be the middle person between the sales people and their organisation.
They want to take all the “noise” from the organisation away from their sales people to “allow them to concentrate on selling.
They become bogged down in reports, paperwork and other administrative task.
Meanwhile their sales people flounder with little direction, not coaching/mentoring and no accountability.
The next least effective managers only know the way. We call them the “telling managers”.
These leaders tell players what to do or not to do. They often remind players of the obvious, e.g., "you have to make more calls, ask better questions, fill your pipeline, manage your time, develop your skills ..." without being able to go or show the way.
With each observation, team members respond with heightened anxiety and negativity, which costs the leader the team's trust and respect.
Players quickly realize the leader can't help them and choose to tolerate them or seek opportunities elsewhere.
Next are managers who know the way and go the way. We call them "the knight in shining armour" managers.
These leaders are focused on showing. If you can't reach them during the day, they are probably on a sales call, shadowing one of their reps, or coming in to “save the day” on a critical deal. These leaders are more comfortable executing -- doing what they did when they were sales people.
They are often loved by their reps for their desire and ability to help them win.
But they fall short of developing the systems and culture required to scale their success beyond the physical limitations of their management style.
The best managers know the way, go the way, and show the way. We call them "the mentor/coach" leaders.
These leaders are committed to the idea that their success will come from developing people, processes and systems.
They give more than they ask for in return.
They have respectful and trusting engagement with their team, which multiplies the impact of their work and produces a sustainable growth culture that ensures the team is more productive than the sum of its parts.
These leaders build value that can be sustained even when they're not there.
