Mastering the World of Selling: The Ultimate Training Resource from the Biggest Names in Sales

Chapter 16. Sales Manager or Administrator?

John Holland

CustomerCentric Selling

In your sales career, have you reported to sales managers or sales administrators? Of the managers you've reported to, is there one you wish your son or daughter could work for in their first sales job? My first manager assigned quota, signed my expense reports, told me what to do, and frightened me into doing it. Subsequent managers left me alone. All were sales administrators, simply trying to deliver the revenue expected of them.

Titles containing the word manager imply assessment and development of staff. Most salespeople are motivated to succeed. Sub par performance is due to a shortage of activity or skill deficiencies. Sales administrators tell salespeople the quantity of activity (what and how much to do), but are unable to influence the quality of their efforts. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. I'd like to suggest a few ways to address both the quantity and quality of a salesperson's activity.

AVOIDING TRAIN WRECKS

Bad years occur a month at a time. By the time a manager or salesperson realizes things are bad (18 percent year-to-date [YTD] in May?), it may be too late to salvage the year. Consider taking a salesperson's monthly quota and multiplying it by the length of an average sales cycle. Each month the manager can evaluate where the seller is YTD and apply an estimated historical close rate to his or her pipeline to get a sense ...