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LEADERSHIP A Fish Rots From The Head First Show me a weak team and I�ll show you a weak leader. There are a slew of traits that make a great sales manager. I�ve cobbled together some of the areas that I believe should be the mainstay of an effective sales management strategy. Leadership Discipline, Recruitment, System, and Sales Co-ordinator. Leadership You probably already know the dictionary definition � the ability to guide, direct or influence people... I�ve found that outstanding sales managers have the ability to sell a vision and galvanise their teams behind it. In their quest for success they are friendly, fair and firm. They are able to make the hard choices and stand by them. They carry an iron fist in a velvet glove. Their watchword is that �familiarity breeds contempt.� They know they will fail if they try to pander to everyone. They are definitely not fence sitters because they know that if they straddle the fence long enough, it will end up between their bum. They don�t try and be friends with their sales teams. They are paid to bring results for the company they serve. This is their BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). What gets them out of bed saying, �Yah for the Day�. I believe that sales managers should have a certain distance (call it aloofness) from their sales staffs or they will lose respect. Once the respect goes, the discipline goes. After that, the sales go � and you know the rest. Here�s a radical idea. If you want to improve your leadership, go to the movies. Watch movies that have inspirational leaders and see how they inspire their followers. You know the one�s I mean: Discipline Great sales managers are disciplined and expect discipline from their sales people. Remember which teacher�s homework you did first and it was always on time. The one that brooked no excuses and that punished non-performance. As a sales manager you should expect your team to be impeccably groomed, have clean and uncluttered desks, equally clean motor vehicles and well versed in the art and science of selling (continuous improvement). It would be great if we could follow Ricardo Semler�s The Seven-Day Weekend principles and expect our sales people to be mature enough and committed enough to their own success to do exactly what is expected of them without having to watch them. This will come and then sales managers will be out of jobs. But until then (and I think it will be a while yet) you still have a job. If your sales team does not have a work-ethic and a disciplined outlook on their careers, you�ll be rounding them up at the News Caf� or whatever local watering hole they choose to skulk in to avoid you and to avoid what they�re paid to do � sell for your company. Remember, if your sales team is lax and not performing � it is only your fault because you put up with as much BS as you allow yourself to put up with. However, if you do the next step well, you may never have to �lay down the law.� Recruitment This is where I believe most of a sales manager�s energy should be spent. If you choose a weak team you will have weak results. Let�s take the state of our rugby at the moment. I don�t believe that we have the likes of the Ray Mordt, Danie Gerber, Jannie Breedt, Naas Botha, Morne du Plessis and so on to make up a world-class side. Guess who gets bulleted every time � the coach. The same holds true for your sales team. If you choose badly, you will get poor results. You�re the coach of your side. Your livelihood depends on how well your team performs. Your challenge is to choose a winning team. If not, you�ll never be able to perform properly. I�m no recruitment expert, but if I were, this is what I�d do: - Headhunt � why choose someone who hasn�t got a job now. Ask yourself why they are without a job? Yes, their last company may have retrenched them � when it comes to sales people, companies don�t retrench the star performers only the passengers. Look for someone who is already a successful sales person in your industry and entice him or her to your side. Do you see rugby sides taking on the reserves of other sides? No, they buy the other sides superstars wherever possible. - Scrutinise � do thorough reference and credit checks (I don�t even know if it even legal?). A sale person who is up to his or her eyeballs in debt is desperate and will not be able to perform properly. - Horses for Courses - your sales team should comprise both hunters and farmers. Most sales managers make the mistake of trying to find a person who is both a hunter and a farmer (that only works in Little House on the Prairie). Hunters are ego-based individuals that like the chase and the kill (and you want them to be team players, ha, ha.). Don�t ask them to now go and gut and skin the animal and then cook it. That�s what they have helpers for. A farmer likes to cultivate things for the long haul � they�re great team players. If you want someone to open new business for you, choose a striker with a great track record. This person is typically self-assured, a little arrogant, driven by challenge and inspired to be number one. This is a thoroughbred racehorse that cannot be corralled. Someone like this rarely has to be managed because their own ego will manage them and their endeavour for success will guide them to greatness. Hunters are vital for the success of your business. Wendy Evans in her book, How to Get Business in Ninety Days and Keep it Forever, says that most companies will lose 20 percent of their business a year. So, to make up for it, your company has to bring in at least 30 percent more business each year, just to keep on an even keel. Unfortunately, hunters are not great cultivators. Here you need farmers or in business terms, key account managers. In the long run, they�re probably more valuable than hunters because they nurture the accounts that become more profitable the longer they�re with your company. SystemsTo be able to spend most of your time recruiting, you need outstanding systems. Systems very seldom let you down. If you haven�t already got it in your library, you need to acquire (as a matter of urgency) a book by Michael Gerber called The E-Myth Revisited. Once you�ve read this book you will never be able to look at your business the same way again (this is a good thing by the way). Read the book and we can chat about it later. Sales Co-ordinator This person is worth her weight in gold. She is your Tengzing Norgay or Dr. Watson. Great Sales Managers have effective sales co-ordinators who back them up. You may have noticed that I advocated a female for this position. The reality is that she is much more into the detail than a man could ever be and therefore can juggle more balls in the air without dropping them. It is true that your sales hunters are not great at administration and follow-up. Instead of always threatening them, stressing yourself out and burning out � just find yourself an outstanding assistant. Allow the sales people to be where they should be � in front of the prospect. The sales co-ordinators task is to write up the quotes and proposals (this should be easy because you have templates and a system, don�t you?); run your client relationship programme � letters, birthday cards, invites to functions etc.; sending out of thank you letters to each prospect that has been seen; following up on appointments. She is a great asset to you because she prevents excusalitis from sales people � �I�ve got too much admin, no time, I have to do too many proposals, blah, blah, blah�. Now they have no excuses � all they have to do is get on the phone and make appointments and see clients. Easy. So, move heaven and earth to find your solid-gold sales co-ordinator. Oh, by the way, if you are the managing director of your company, your job is not to be the sales manager. I want you on your yacht in the Copyright 2004 by Jacques de Villiers This article may be copied or republished with the following credit: |
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