It’s a question that you think you can answer, but can you? Chances are you know exactly what makes a bad manager but knowing what elevates an OK sales manager to a great sales manager isn’t so easy. It’s even less easy when you’ve been promoted to your first managerial position and you have an eager sales team hanging on your every word. So what does it take to make a great managerial mark?
The move from a sales executive to a sales manager can be a daunting one. Suddenly, you’re making decisions for an entire team rather than just yourself and, more than that, there’s nowhere to hide. You are responsible for the team or department, you decide upon its direction, and you take the blame for its failures, as well as being rewarded for its successes. Even if you are an award-winning, target-smashing sales genius that means handling extremely high levels of expectation.
“You have to understand the sales environment to be able to manage, and you have to understand the culture in which you are working, too,” explains Guy Miles, managing director of Octopus Investments. “You need empathy, good communication and to be able to understand the direction you are going in if you want to be a great manager.
“It’s vital that any new sales manager secures the confidence of their team. It’s about working in the direction that the team needs to go in and communicating that to it and the individuals within it. They have to know what they need to do, and you have to know what they want from their work and careers. Getting everyone on board in the right way means you can all pull together. Managing a team and its individuals is a lot of work, but it’s what you have to do if you want to be a successful sales manager.”
All of this means that great managing is a two-way process. Blindly issuing orders without listening to the sales executives on the ground is a recipe for disaster. After all, would you have enjoyed this style of management when you were a sales executive? Probably not.
Which is why choosing the right management style is essential, especially in a new role. Your first move will determine how your team reacts to you, and while you need to gain respect from them, you also need to give them respect in return. Understanding how the team works, what it is capable of achieving, what its shortfalls are and the dynamics of its relationships will all be reflected in its success. Ignoring any or all of these is the fast track to poor motivation, productivity, morale and, importantly, poor sales.
“It is a big challenge,” says Octopus’ Miles, “although I think that there are two particular styles of management. One is target driven, and the other is based on relationship development. Which one you demonstrate depends on the team’s focus. You tend to find that business-to-business sales are often relationship-based, because you have to create relationships with a client. Transactional and customer-based sales are more target driven instead.”
And your style of management all comes down to communication. Balance and fairness are vital tools in communicating with your team. While you want them to listen to you, you have to listen to them, too. Not only does it make your team feel valued, but it also means your decisions are better informed, because you know what’s happening on the ground. It also pays to be unequivocal in the messages that you give to your team. Clarity is vital, and mixed messages will simply cause confusion, mistrust and even dissent.
Luckily this isn’t just something that great sales managers are born with. They also learn how to do it through experience. Even if your own managerial experience is limited, just watching and learning could be enough to show you how it’s done.
Finding a mentor
“One great way of doing this is by finding a mentor,” explains Miles. “Persuade someone with a good track record in sales management to mentor you through your first managerial position. Ask them to break down the role into the key areas and see how each works. Develop a plan that allows you to do the same and then watch carefully how your own mentor works. Their success is often in the details, and it’s about how they do things as well as what they do.
“Even finding a mentor is a test. If you really are good at sales and have what it takes to persuade and motivate then you should be able to secure a mentor. Successfully finding someone who is willing to help you in return for nothing is a sign that you are good at your job.”
Becoming a great sales manager is a process, and even the best never stop watching, learning and refining. What, though, about that first day on the job? You’ve got the title, you’ve got the new office, you’ve met the new team and ... then what? It’s time to make a great first impression and one that will show your team the type of leader you want to be. So here’s a do-it-now trick from Miles:
“Spend time with each team member, listen to their feedback and ask what does or doesn’t work for them. It’ll help you understand the team, and they’ll trust you in return. It’s something that anyone can do regardless of their sales experience, and it’ll be a great start to your new sales manager career.”
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