Four Traits of the Great Sales Managers
What makes a great Sales Manager? There's no single, remarkable secret. In fact, great Sales Managers are many things. Depending on the situation, a great Sales Managers is a time-management supervisor, a meeting planner, a contest coordinator, a talent scout, a coach, a trainer and a psychiatrist. All of those roles put together--and executed well--make for a great Sales Manager.
However, there are four key areas in which the best Sales Managers excel. Great leaders:
1) Are passionate and enthusiastic.
These traits are transferred to the entire sales team. If the leader is negative, everyone else will be pulled down. How do great leaders maintain a realistically positive attitude? Great leaders are great readers; they read everything they can find about their crafts and industries. They seek out mentors whose wisdom and experience can help them achieve their goals, and they encourage their salespeople to do the same. They surround themselves with high-quality people.
2) Recruit great salespeople.
Many Sales Managers don't start recruiting until someone leaves, which means they often settle for second best in order to fill the gap. Great Sales Managerss, on the other hand, are always on the lookout for talented people. One way you can do this is by carrying two-sided business cards to give out to people you meet at other businesses who demonstrate great sales and service skills. One side of the card contains the standard name, address and phone number. On the other side, it might say, "I was very impressed with your service and professionalism. Please call me if you're ever looking for a career." The success of a Sales Manager is in direct proportion to the success of the team, which is why it's critical to hire the best people.
3) Make their numbers through their salespeople, not for them.
The greatest difficulty a sales team can have is a manager who closes for his salespeople. When that happens, the salespeople don't learn the skills they need to move to the highest level of self-sufficiency. It's instinctive for a Sales Managers to want to jump in and save a sale, but the message you send is that you don't trust your salespeople, or you're not training them properly. I do believe that a Sales Manager should come in on a sale that hasn't been closed as a last resort. But the bottom-line is: Close a deal for a salesperson and you've made one sale; teach him how to close and you've made a career.
4) Understand their salespeople's individual strengths and weaknesses.
They're able to ask non-directive questions like "What do you think you could have done differently on that sale?" or "What was your objective when you asked those questions?" When the salespeople say it, they own it; when the Manager says it, they doubt it. Great Sales Managers are aware of what motivates each salesperson and know how to get the best from everyone. They expect excellence. If your salespeople know you think they're capable of reaching greater heights, they'll strive for them.
Your role as a leader is to encourage your people to succeed. There may be substantial monetary rewards in being a great Sales Managers, but the greatest reward is having helped others reach their goals. Our material possessions won't really matter once we're gone. Our greatest legacy is the people we've helped build, who are left to build others in the same way.
To find out more about Mike Whitty and Salesperson, Inc., visit www.mikewhitty.com and www.slpinc.net.
Reprinted with permission from: Mike Whitty and Salesperson, Inc. (800) 453-2787. |
Past Issues
