Sales Managers Wear Two Bulls Eyes

A topic that’s been coming up a lot lately among my friends and clients is the role of the sales manager. Let's be honest, it's a tough job. As a sales manager, you wear two bulls’ eyes; one on your front and one on your back.

On the one hand, senior management is gunning for the results, the numbers, revenue, profit, etc.; and on the other, your sales people are taking pot shots at your management abilities, perhaps resenting your interference in their deals or micromanagement of their activities. To a lot of people, being a sales manager puts you in a no-win situation, especially if you aren't clear about your role.

Our friend and fellow sales speaker John Asher suggests these three main roles for the sales manager:

1. Be a Mentor
• Recruit and build a cohesive sales team.
• Help your sales people develop as professionals.
• Motivate each person individually.
• Participate in sales calls, but only when appropriate.
• Coach instead of manage. In other words, guide people to discover the answer, rather than you providing it.

2. Be a Strategist
• Create and communicate the sales team's vision.
• Develop an approach to the marketplace.
• Match compensation and incentives to the strategy.
• Continuously manage and upgrade the sales process, and measure performance.

3. Be a Communicator
• Build bridges between top management, marketing, customer service, and the sales team.
• Encourage 360-feedback between you and each member of your sales team. Learn from their input.
• Share information within the sales team, such as best practices for "wins;" lesson learned from "losses;" overcoming objections; detailing your sales process from beginning to end; and capturing ideas, goals, stories, and many other best selling practices in your company Sales Playbook.

I once heard a great line from Jack Daly, a motivational speaker, who said "Your job as a sales manager is not to develop sales, but to develop sales people."

On May 7th, Criteria for Success will host an executive workshop, “I Don’t Want To Be a Salesperson; I Want To Be a CEO.” The event’s panelists will include NY Report publisher and editor-in-chief Robert Levin. Visit http://www.criteriaforsuccess.com/events/ for more information.