FREE SALES ARTICLE

�The best and only sale you ever made was to me when I interviewed you.�

In memory of the millions of disillusioned sales managers out there - by Jacques de Villiers

29 July 2005

Take a second or so to picture a Lance Corporal in the army. Probably the least envied position ;-) There�s one stripe between the top leadership and his troop (typically 10). Because he sleeps with the troops (I mean in the same tent as them;-), he is the mother-hen, friend, disciplinarian and sometime confidante. Some Lance Corporals have no problem leading their section � They get instructions from the Captain (ok, through a whole chain of command) � they pass the instructions on to their section � their troops carry out the instructions and life continues. Everyone is happy.

However, some Lance Corporals run a much rougher passage � they also get instructions � they also pass the instructions on to their section � their troops don�t carry out the instructions and life becomes miserable for all involved.

Listen up now. Substitute the following words and run the above scenario again:

• Army for Company
• Lance Corporal for Sales Manager
• Troops for Sales Team

Why do some sales managers run a gauntlet of failure and others land on the winners podium?

In my travels through sales teams over the years I have managed to pick up some patterns that may give a sliver of an answer. Below are three trends I�ve picked up that could cause a sales team to stall and sales managers to weep into their drinks.

• Unsuccessful sales managers don�t spend enough time and effort on the recruitment process. This is the most difficult part of a leader�s job � recruiting a super stars. A lot of time, investigation and vetting needs to take place to get the right candidate. I suppose the nub is that �if you choose badly up front, you�re going to end badly.� Remember, we spoke about character in the last Looking Sideways � if a sales person does not have the character, he�ll not be able to sell. As a sales manager, your challenge is to find this out in the interview.
• Familiarity breeds contempt. I know we all want to be liked � but being one of the gang will not serve one in the future. It�s a bitter pill to swallow when your �leader� is all buddy, buddy one minute and the next, she is giving you instructions (and even getting angry because you haven�t hit your sales targets �heaven forbid). The line between professional and familiar is thinner than the blade of a Samauri sword. And it is one that is crossed to often (think of those team-builds that you�ve been on that have turned into a free-for-all). No easy answers here. But perhaps this old saw may give you some food for thought, �Carry an iron fist in a velvet glove.�
• Like Lance Corporals, some sales managers are excluded from the decision-making process and are therefore toothless tigers. They accept the figures their team has to make without so much as a fight. We all know that some of these targets are a right royal � thumb suck, aren�t they? Sales managers should be involved in strategic decisions from the onset. And from there, drive the sales strategy. They should have the power to question decisions made by the Ivory Tower.