Recently I was with a sales manager who is anything but a sales leader and, for that matter, shouldn’t even be a sales manager.
I’ve met with him 3 times and each time he raves about how good a manager he is. It’s all about how he is so good with his team and customers. What’s scary is his people and his customers certainly don’t see it that way.
This individual ranks as one of the worst sales managers I have ever met. When I ask him about how he coaches his people, he is quick to say how he “beats it into them every day.” Excuse me, but I don’t see the action “beat” in any list of ways to coach/motivate anyone.
What I do see is a sales team that is purely going through the actions necessary to keep their jobs, but certainly not turning in the results they need. I’ve asked the sales manager for his opinion on this and his response is the team is good, but they just don’t do what he tells them to do.
If your people aren’t achieving the results you need, ask yourself if it’s an issue with skill or one of attitude. The problem with this team is it’s both.
A person with a bad attitude is not a person you can train, but what you can do is create an environment for them to succeed. The easiest thing this sales manager can do is to begin complimenting his people and begin inviting them to share with others what they personally do to be successful.
Weak managers are a disease that is allowed to live in way too many companies. I’d rather have the manager position open than have it occupied by a person like I’ve described above.
The results of a manager are seen not by what they do, but in what their people achieve.
As you prepare for 2017… Prospecting today requires different language approaches and strategies! I’ve helped companies create powerful outcomes through interactive keynotes and workshops, delivering specific objection language and strategies.
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Copyright 2016, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.
