The Sales Manager – Salesperson Friend or Foe?

I’ve always been a believer that you don’t motivate people, but rather you motivate a single person. What gets one person charged up...fails to elicit the slightest response from another.

As a sales manager, you have the tough task of figuring out exactly what each of your salespeople needs from you. Whether you have grizzled veterans or newbies, every member of your team needs you. That’s where many sales managers go awry. They assume that veterans don’t need their help because they’ve been around for a long time. Perhaps, what they need from you is to remove selling roadblocks or deal with some administrative issues. In essence, those veterans want the gift of more selling time.

Another common sales management misstep is having one management style such that every member of the team is managed the exactly same way. You’ll hit the mark with a few, but miss with many. Rather than firing them up, you turn them off because you haven’t aligned with what motivates them.

Does this approach parallel another process that sounds very familiar? Selling to prospects! If you have one style, one approach, one strategy…you may sell once in a while, but more often than not, if you don’t adjust your style, no sale! The sales management profession exists because it is accepted that salespeople need leadership, guidance and development to reach their true potential.

See you next time on the Sales Management Minute.