I’ve helped many new managers to transition from seller to manager, and existing managers to become more effective. One of the recurring issues I’ve discovered is a misunderstanding of what a sales manager is. I often find someone with a warped and destructive idea of what a sales manager’s work is.
Misguided tendencies
Generally I find these misguided managers have adopted one of these four destructive management styles:
1. The Clone Coach
A common tendency of great sales people promoted to manager is to believe that if they could train all of their sales people to be mini-me’s of themselves everything would be great – the sales people would be happy, they’d make their numbers, management would be thrilled, customers would be loyal, and the new manager would be promoted again in no time.
Thus, the new manager coaches sellers on his team to do what he did to be successful without regard to the individual sales person’s experience, knowledge, personality, or skills. Typically the harder the manager tries to ‘coach’ sales people, the more frustrated each seller becomes.
Although the manager may succeed in creating one or two clones, he will alienate the majority of his team and there will be a breakdown of trust and cooperation.
2. The Super Seller
The Super Seller is the star sales person who tells his or her sales people to forget about selling. ‘You get the prospects, I’ll sell ‘em’ is the crux of their management style. Their only interest is making their numbers because it’s all about them.
Sales people languish and eventually wither and die under a Super Seller for they have no chance to grow, and if they do decide to exercise selling skills they are typically scolded for costing the manager potential sales. Although the manager may appear successful to upper management if judged only by the numbers, she is judged a complete failure by her team which typically suffers large turnover and discontent.
3. The Disciplinarian
Less prevalent than the two previous management styles but equally dangerous is the manager who comes in with the attitude of “I’m going to whip these lazy good for nothings into shape if it kills me.” Most typically it does kill – both the team members and the manager.
The Disciplinarian usually has a chip on their shoulder and disrespect for those they ‘manage.’ They view themselves as superior sellers, more dedicated to the company and job than their team. Sales teams under the thumb of the Disciplinarian suffer from morale issues that eventually result in high turnover and often outright rebellion.
4. The Pal
The Pal manager is often promoted from within the team and is friends with most team members. The Pal’s transition from peer to manager changes little in the team’s relationships as the sales people have difficulty viewing their old friend as
their manager and she struggles to hold her former peers accountable for their actions.
Instead of making the transition from peer to manager, she becomes Super Friend, covering for her team no matter what and more concerned about how they feel about her than managing them. Unfortunately for most Pal managers, the
lack of discipline and accountability results in the team members taking gross advantage of them – to the point that often their tenure as manager is short-lived.
The common denominator that binds all four of these management styles together is a focus by the manager on themselves and their wants and needs. One of the keys to being a successful sales manager is having a solid understanding
of human nature and what makes each team member tick. More than anything else, sales management is about leadership, not control or being the big shot or only making the numbers.
Manager, if you see yourself locked into any of these management styles, seek out quality management training and start the process of becoming a strong manager. Seller, if you find that you are working for one of these managers, make a conscious decision about whether you want to continue in a situation where your growth could be stunted and you may live in a constant state of frustration.
