Being a sales manager or business owner is a tough job. You wear a ton of different hats and have a lot of pressure on your shoulders. Just one of those many pressures is the bottom line. Where is revenue at for the month? How many new sales were closed last quarter? How successful and effective is your sales staff? Often times when I work with my clients and results are less than desirable, I dig in and I quickly find out it is NOT always the fault of the salesperson. It is often management holding their people back!
Things to remember:
1 – It is okay to fail! Many managers feel the need to constantly step in and rescue their people. They feel they cannot lose a sale and they have to be a hero. This may make sense short term but by always being there your salespeople are not learning and they are not growing and it will actually hold them back in the long run. Let your people go on their own sales calls. Let them lose a deal every once in awhile. It is okay. The business will survive and your people will thrive.
2 – Set clear expectations! Lots of managers want to be nice and easy going. They don’t want to micro manage and be a pest. This is all good in theory but when clear expectations regarding behaviors and results are not set with your sales staff it could pose problems down the road if performance is below average. It is much easier to have difficult conversations when there is no problem currently present. However, if expectations were never set properly and a difficult situation arises you may be in trouble. You are doing yourself and your salespeople a favor by having clear goals and a tracking system.
3 – Do not get emotionally involved! Most managers are good people and they want to see their people succeed. However if you want your people to succeed more than they do themselves it is a recipe for disaster. When this happens you may not do the things you need to do as a manager, you may be hesitant to challenge, as well as you may be slow to have tough conversations or even terminate when necessary.
Being in sales management is not an easy job but sometimes we make it more difficult than it needs to be. With these easy tips you may find the heavy load on your shoulders lightens and the money in the bank growing larger!
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