So you’re a Sales Manager. Talk about a tough job! How many hats do you have to wear on a day-to-day basis? I looked up “Sales Manager” in the Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Deluxe second Edition. The definition is: “one whose work is managing the sales or the sales force of a business concern...”
Hmmm, that didn’t tell me much, so I looked up:
Force, noun.
- Strength; energy; vigor; power.
- The power to control, persuade, influence, etc.; effectiveness
- Any group of people organized for some activity; as, a sales force.
Now we’re getting closer. But we’re still only scratching the surface.
If every Sales Manager had a hat rack in their office with a supply of hats, each hat with a different job description embroidered on it, the rack could very easily extend around the periphery of their office. This would also facilitate communication between the sales manager and any person slumming in their office (all those people who are wasting you time).
Of course, you understand that during normal working hours only people other than sales people migrate into the sales manager’s office. During “Pay Time,” (that’s the time of day when sales people can be in front of their clients and prospects) sales people cannot be selling anything if they are talking to their manager. Therefore, they are never (ahem!) in the manager’s office during this time. The real world shows us that is not reality. There are always exceptions, but it is up to the sales manager to put on his/her Time Manager hat to keep those instances to a minimum.
Hirer/Firer
Unfortunately this hat is worn way too often by most sales managers. As a result, it is frequently quite dog-eared and tattered. Whenever they put on this hat, it is going to cost the company unbudgeted dollars; sometimes an exorbitant amount if the proper selection is not made. Don’t trust your gut feeling here. Excellent sales skills and behavior evaluations are available to minimize the risk of hiring and firing of sales personnel. First, evaluate your existing sales force and then scientifically select the appropriate replacement or addition to accentuate your strengths and eliminate your weaknesses.
By the way, don’t use just a “personality” evaluation. Take advantage of the expensive assessments that will tell you how your sales people are going to perform under pressure. Isn’t that the condition they are frequently working under? That’s why they get the big bucks when they do well!
Motivator
Another hat that hopefully shows a great deal of threadbare spots is the Motivator hat. Too often sales managers motivate all their sales people the same way. Chances are that you have a sales team made up of different personal behavior characteristics. Guess what. They will all be motivated differently. You don’t expect them to influence all their different customers the same way and you shouldn’t expect to motivate them the same way.
If you look at one of the more popular behavior assessment profiles, you will find that each of us has a unique profile that is a combination of characteristics identified by a DISC profile. In this profile we find individuals have predominant characteristics in each of four categories. “D” stands for “dominant”; “I” stands for “influencer, “S” for “steady performer” and “C” for “compliant” or “cautious thinker”. Once you assess the predominant characteristics of each of your sales people, you will understand how to more effectively motivate them.
Other Hats
As a top Sales Manager, you have several other hats in your wardrobe. I don’t have enough column space to expound on them all. However, some of the more necessary hats required are: 1. Soothsayer, also known as forecaster; 2. Reverend, for that needed spiritual guidance (some of you should leave this up to the professionals); 3. Psychologist, mandatory hat to make sure your sales people have business goals that support their personal objectives and core values; 4. Trainer, another mandatory hat to keep your force on the cutting edge and one step ahead of your competition; 5. Accountant, somebody has to make sense of those numbers before you turn them in to the boss.
My bottom line suggestion is that if you are a Sales Manager, get yourself a good coach. If your head explodes, you have no place to wear your hats!
Dave Fischer, President, Chartwell Seventeen Advisory Group
Sandler Training NYC
