"The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership."
-Harvey S. Firestone
Outstanding sales managers create a learning environment. Their workplaces become laboratories of sales education, or experiential learning, of human development, of human nature and psychology.
Great sales managers are always looking for potential in their people. When they find it, they develop it - not just during initial training upon hire, but always. They look for learning opportunities for their employees at every juncture. They are perpetual sales trainers and role models.
When teaming up with another salesperson during a customer sales interaction, they observe so they can identify points of success and opportunities for improvement, then they coach the salesperson on those points and opportunities. They only take over the selling role for the salesperson when they want the salesperson to observe and learn, but would prefer to let the salesperson sell so they can observe and then coach.
Great sales managers have confidence in their salespeople, even to the point of allowing them to experience instances of failure so they can learn valuable lessons in that failure and themanager's coaching that goes along with it.
They are not merely paper-pushers, administrators, or yes-men (or women). They don't spend all day in their offices with the doors shut, noses firmly planted in the space between their computer keyboards and monitors. They don't spend their time selling.
They are teachers, doers, cheerleaders, motivators, nurturers, disciplinarians, recognizers of achievement, back-patters, shapers, and social workers. They remove barriers to success, run efficient operations, have fun, foster teamwork, create respectful work environments, and challenge their people. They identify their salespeople's strengths andfind ways to use those strengths. They spend time with their people, walking around, observing, talking, asking, noticing, rolling their sleeves up and getting busy.
They provoke, inspire, help, and develop. They create success in their people, and experience their own personal success as a by-product of their team's success.
Sales managers, how are you going to spend your time today?
When teaming up with another salesperson during a customer sales interaction, they observe so they can identify points of success and opportunities for improvement, then they coach the salesperson on those points and opportunities. They only take over the selling role for the salesperson when they want the salesperson to observe and learn, but would prefer to let the salesperson sell so they can observe and then coach.
Great sales managers have confidence in their salespeople, even to the point of allowing them to experience instances of failure so they can learn valuable lessons in that failure and themanager's coaching that goes along with it.
They are not merely paper-pushers, administrators, or yes-men (or women). They don't spend all day in their offices with the doors shut, noses firmly planted in the space between their computer keyboards and monitors. They don't spend their time selling.
They are teachers, doers, cheerleaders, motivators, nurturers, disciplinarians, recognizers of achievement, back-patters, shapers, and social workers. They remove barriers to success, run efficient operations, have fun, foster teamwork, create respectful work environments, and challenge their people. They identify their salespeople's strengths andfind ways to use those strengths. They spend time with their people, walking around, observing, talking, asking, noticing, rolling their sleeves up and getting busy.
They provoke, inspire, help, and develop. They create success in their people, and experience their own personal success as a by-product of their team's success.
Sales managers, how are you going to spend your time today?
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Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training,
a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip
is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more.
Today?
On holiday Skip, of course. It's Good Friday.
Seriously though - great post. I've been doing a lot of research recently into how expertise is acquired. With skills (such as selling) the key (according to professor Anders Ericcson of Florida State who's pretty much the leader in the field) is "directed practice" - and lots of it. Directed practice is experience with a target in mind, and fast feedback as to where you did well, and where you went wrong.
Where does that feedback come from in sales ? It can only come from someone who (a) observes you in practice and (b) "knows what good looks like" - in other words the sales manager.
Ian
Posted by: Ian Brodie | 10 April 2009 at 12:20 PM
Ian, yeah, maybe this post would have been more appropriate for next week - although a lot of the U.S. is plugging away at work today.
I'm not familiar with Anders Ericcson. Thanks for bringing him to my attention. I'm going to investigate.
Thanks for contributing.
Posted by: Skip | 10 April 2009 at 01:02 PM
Great post Skip... Thanks for a good reminder of where we should be spending our time. With the plethora of demands most companies put on sales managers, it is hard to keep your focus on the REAL #1 task... coaching and developing your staff. My goal next week is to sit with every member of my team for a minimum of one hour on the y-connect and listen to them telemarket. I absolutely LOVE to do it, and it just doesn't happen enough. especially with my top reps.
-Brad
Posted by: Sales Podcast | 11 April 2009 at 12:02 AM
Brad, that's great. Enjoy your coaching time next week.
I think one of the biggest challenges of being a sales manager, or an entrepreneur, or a salesperson, or an executive, a husband, or parent is to spend our valuable time in valuable ways. We all have pressures on us from multiple sources, but somehow we've got to carve out time for what's most important.
Posted by: Skip | 11 April 2009 at 05:13 AM