Most sales managers would agree that "managing a sales team is harder than herding cats". The individualism common in the stereotypical examples of sales and domesticated cats makes the metaphor work rather well!
So that's the problem, now what do we do about it?
First we need to identify the qualities that make a great sales person:
Independent (will do things their way)Individualistic (their way doesn't involve you monitoring everything they do)Self-starter (they set their own priorities)Great questioners (they will question everything you try to tell them)Passionate about their work (they sometimes come across as angry)Persistent (they are very stubborn)Ability to negotiate (they can talk their way out of anything you try to tell them)Ability to overcome rejection (they will not care what you think about them either)Respond to needs (they will commit only to those things that they see as important)Storyteller (they can convince you that things are better than they are)Those ten characteristics which make for a great sales person can clearly make them very difficult to manage. The more "Managerial" you become the more the negative side of those characteristics manifest themselves.
Let's consider the Sports Manager. Sports managers spend their time behind the scenes coordinating all business-related activities for the team that employs them.
Rarely is that the responsibility of a sales manager. Usually they are tasked with increasing sales and executing the day-to-day functions and decisions of the sales team. Sounds more like a coach than a manager. Right?
Maybe then what's needed is a shift in focus from functioning as a manager to functioning as a coach. After all is there a lot of difference in the characteristics of a high-powered sales person and that a high-powered athlete?
I think not!
What advantages will a coach have that a manager doesn't? A coach is seen in our society very different from a manager. Can we use those differences to our advantage?
Here's a slightly over simplified explanation: A manager sets goals, in the form of quotas on calls, presentations and sales, and holds you accountable to reach them. A coach supports, through training, practice and development of your skills, your efforts to achieve victory.
With that perception of the difference it is obvious why more sales people are more responsive to coaching than to managing.
Let's look again at those characteristics of a high-powered sales person through the eyes of a coach:
Independent - a coach loves an independent spirit because they are eager to work with independent people rather than the person who depends on him for the next 10 years.
Individualistic - a coach wants an individual rather than a one-size-fits-all sales person. Individuals bring flavor and expand your market.
Self-starter - a coach wants the sales person who sees the need and goes after it with everything they have.
Great Questioner - a coach will see the questioning ability as the greatest asset if when it is directed at the goals and objective of the company.
Passionate - a coach understands that passion is a part of the package which also includes some harder to handle issue but they all come in the same package.
Persistent - a coach will take what seems like a stubborn tendency and make it positively persistent.
Ability to negotiate - A coach will use the sales person ability to negotiate to "get" them to work for their own good.
Respond to needs - a coach understands how to help a sales person "see" needs as never before.
Storyteller - a coach knows the power of good stories and how to direct the sales persons to use them to accomplish his goals not keep him from them.
The difficulties of managing a sales team is that you're trying to manage! Try coaching instead, or you could just keep herding cats.
Like this piece on managing sales people? Eric would really like to hear from you as he puts together his next podcast on becoming a sales coach rather than a manager. To get to know Eric better go to http://ericmulford.com/
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