The transition from salesperson to manager is neither easy nor natural for most people. Most newly promoted managers haven’t recruited, coached, energized and retained a team of salespeople. Even those who excelled in sales may lack the critical competencies that are essential to effective management.
Onboarding is essential for getting new managers out of their comfort zone (selling) and into leading a sales team. After a successful onboarding, ongoing development helps experienced managers refresh skills, address competency gaps and keep up with the ever-changing sales environment, say Andris A. Zoltners, Prabhakant Sinha and Sally E. Lorimer in an article for Harvard Business Review. The authors state that formal mentoring programs are a proven component of effective sales manager onboarding efforts.
Some companies they examined expect that as much as half of sales directors’ time should be devoted to coaching first-line managers. Purposeful strategies can elevate the role of the supervisor in developing first-line managers.
One company divided the task of mentoring a new sales manager among five experienced managers. The new manager shadowed each of the five experienced managers and came out of the 10-day mentorship period with a broad base of knowledge about the job. In addition, the new manager had five different mentors to turn to for future questions and advice.
Another company assigned two mentors to each new manager. One mentor had been in the manager role for one or two years and could relate to the challenges of being new. The other mentor had more years of experience and could share wisdom.
Forward-thinking companies also create systems to foster independent learning. One company created an online portal linking learning materials (whitepapers, books, seminars, courses, video clips, webinars) to specific management competencies. Another company asked high-performing experienced managers to video themselves giving advice about specific job challenges. The videos became part of a podcast library that any manager could access when needed.
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