3 Dilemmas for Sales Managers

Companies need to develop successful strategies for finding and keeping their sales managers.    They are looking for top sales performers of course and expect people who are motivators, administrators,  marketing managers, statisticians, team leaders with budgeting and forecasting skills.

Often a precarious position as the sales manager is the first to be called to the carpet when sales figures, revenue and the payroll are under scrutiny, management and executives can benefit from truly understanding the difficulties of this complex role.

Dilemma # 1 Salesman or Manager

The job description does not match the expectation.   The manager is given the mandate as the leader and nurterer of the sales team.  This includes fair distribution of leads and opportunities,  directing the support desks,  assessing and correcting performances of sales personnel, as well as reporting wins and losses, not to mention conflict resolution.   Special assignments and promotions are always cropping up requiring a great deal of time and focus and these have to be orchestrated.

Continuing to be a good sales performer is going to be a daunting task.  Cherry picking the best or most high profile opportunities for oneself may lead to initial success but results in claims of unfairness within the sales team and loss of personnel, a disruptive situation at best.

A great manager therefore cannot give the attention to landing their own accounts consistently.  If this does not happen however, the management will  be unhappy as the common view is that the sales manager also has to substantiate their own salary and pay with cold hard revenue figures.

Dilemma # 2  Unfit for the job

The qualifications do not match the job.  To many, it may be unthinkable, that a person without sales experience or knowledge is awarded the job as Sales Manager yet this practice is not as rare as one may assume.

Companies sometimes shuffle their management team around, resulting in a Sales manager who knows the products and company well, but has never had to close an account or call a prospect they have never met.    This person may not be an extrovert or communicator.  Their underdeveloped sales skills and understanding of the sales process will most likely result in the loss of respect and credibility by the sales team and direct reports.

This sales manager will encounter serious problems in their department as people not only try to bypass but attempt to remove them.   One can feel sorry for this person who in all likelihood did not ask for the job but took it to stay employed.   Only a high achiever, who seeks the required training, has formidable networking and people skills can hope to turn this around.

Dilemma # 3  The Glass Ceiling

Breaking through the glass ceiling can be overcome.   No company admits to prejudice and most have non-discrimination policies, yet preconceptions of age, gender, cultural differences, weight, race and origin are commonplace.

By achieving the sales manager job, the individual has obviously offered skills and experience that are valuable to the company and has been given an opportunity to prove themselves.   Nevertheless colleagues and staff who do discriminate will seek out weaknesses.

By far, the most difficult preconception is age and cultural difference.   A young sales manager can encounter obstacles with their level of authority and be continually supervised by their own manager while being patronised by their more mature and experienced staff.   An asian company with asian customers could well prefer a sales manager with the same cultural and linguistic background.

Companies do however shift focus, products and customers and it may well be that this glass ceiling breaks on it’s own. ’ Outstanding performance, an open mind and courtesy will make the difference on this dilemma.

Summary

A great sales manager can be ”the ace in the pack”  for any company.   Creating a strategy and response for the inherent issues facing this individual is an important step in their achieving success not just for themselves or the team but for the whole organization.

Logistics, the oldest profession

Some may think we have an edge on the Romans and Egyptians since we have computers and the internet, software programs, tracking devices and  fancy trains and trucks, but do we?     The might and reach of these two empires rested completely on logistics.   They were at war continuously with other states both far and near, and their wealth was from trade, tribute and taxes.

The Romans were at war domestically and internationally for several hundred years!   Their armies were well organized and are still the model for the modern army.  Yet they had to be clothed, fed, provisioned for, entertained and in communication.   Records had to be kept of their supplies and they did this all without software or tele-communications.    Their supplies for the most part had to travel with them apart from sporadic shipments into their forts and installations.   Weapon makers and outfitters were part of the corps yet still they required materials, which most often were not available locally, since conquered peoples tend to burn everything when they’re running away from an army.

Their transportation methods were carts and wagons either drawn by horses or borne by slaves.   Security was always an issue as was theft but of course this was extremely risky since Roman punishment was very nasty indeed.  The Romans documented everything, and even more so, the Egyptians, who operated bureaucracies that the world may never see again.

In the ancient world of Rome and Egypt, logistics was a highly important yet silent profession.  One thing they had that we do not, were slaves and an abundant supply of them since most of them were captives from the wars.   Many slaves were in fact educated and could read, write and do mathematics, and this section of the population (the majority) was where they found their logistics supervisors and even managers.

In Rome, the pathway to success and status was through the military and then political service.   One could be a successful farmer but only through the wealth, could they buy a military commission.    In Egypt, the same but not as crucial as they relied on trade and tribute to position themselves within the elite circles, which was either the priesthood or nobility.

Winning wars,  building projects and having a huge trade operation was the signature of these long lasting empires and behind it all were the unsung heroes.  The logisticians, the ones who managed the supply chain and got something done even in the difficult circumstances for some of the most ambitious,wily and harsh rulers in history.

Sometimes, I really wonder if anything has changed at all.

Dont just fall into it

Many of us throughout our lives fall into an industry, job or career that we hadn’t really planned  or aspired to.    We put aside who we really are and took a job to pay the bills, raise our children, keep the the big bad world at bay.    It’s  ok  though, we did what we had to do.   We left our mother’s house, gave up our room and said yes sir, no sir to whomever was our boss. 

We stayed because it wasn’t so bad.   It was do-able and at least there was a track record being established and experience gained.  A steady paycheck was coming in and we were getting quite used to that!    But was there joy?    No, not if you stopped dancing,  or playing that violin or even creating that perfect photograph. 

Eventually, whether you’re an artist, a writer, a mechanic, a historian at heart,  you will always come back to it.   You’ve watched those shows, bought those books, dabbled in it, talked about it all your life and after some time later, kicked yourself for not becoming who you were meant to be.   One day you’ll take a little risk and make a little change, and then….you’ll do it again until you arrive, perhaps even unexpectedly at a career that embraces the person you are.

That’s why if you have time and your youth on your side,  don’t just fall into something  you may get stuck with it all your life.    By all means take that job you didn’t think about, but see it as a step.

After all, you are always waiting for you.

Getting to know your Customer

Customer loyalty and retention is based as much on their confidence in your organization and people as it is in product quality.

Confidence is gained in suppliers and service providers when it is perceived that they have a comprehensive profile with you and that your records are accurate and relevant.  This includes

• what they’ve bought from you,
• their unique product requirements,
• their technical data , e.g.  in the case of a Customs Broker a data profile of product description and HS Tariff codes,
• their pricing agreements,
• their credit terms and credit application,
• their management infrastructure,
• their contact details,
• their Sales /Revenue history
• their history of queries and concerns

When a call or communication is placed by the customer, whether to voice a complaint or inquire about a service, it is expected that you are able to retrieve all of their data quickly so that you can solve the issue and give an answer without any delay.    It doesn’t really matter to a customer how you do it,  just that you do.

The issue of course is that your customer’s systems are not always perfect and the person communicating with you may not be the one who set up the account or even has access to all of their data at the time.  When you display the efficiency of knowing their account details, who they are and what they do, it tends to bring them closer to your company as a whole and you are now perceived to be more of a partner than a provider.

I’ve often encountered this, during my many years in Sales and Development that even faced with a cost saving proposal, and upgraded services, a prospect is still likely to say of the incumbent “ they know us very well and we have a good working relationship”.  Superior customer service is often the familiarity between two companies, as this leads to ease of communication, quick troubleshooting and ultimately customer satisfaction.

An efficient and easy to use CRM software program is invaluable in ‘knowing your customer” . It’s important however that Users are the people who are interacting with customers on a day to day basis.   Management of course will always require reports on activity, complaints, revenue etc, and Sales Personnel will always want to have a record of their own activities and contacts,  however neither of these functions have constant interaction with existing customers nor an interest in entering anything more than the simplest data .  They are more internally focused than customer focused.

Knowing your customer is one of the most important things any company can do for their growth and recognition.

Copywright©2008 Second Review Business Analysts