In a past survey, the Association for Talent Development revealed that a whopping 87 percent of managers become such without prior management training and education. This sets them up for seagull management – they fly in, crap on people and fly back out. By crap, I don’t mean that they necessarily treat people badly. What I do mean is that they aren’t delivering much value to their people. That is, doing things for them – not to them. You will then create the opportunity to blow past sales management and focus them on sales leadership. Big difference. Some duties that are “musts” for sales leadership.
Culture: The first area to investigate is the current mission statement to find out if it is a real one or just words. It must be a living and breathing document stating what we stand for regarding our people and our clients.
The statement can be a powerful sales education tool. It will surely state that we will deliver “value” to our clients. That means the sales leader must be bringing value to both the salespeople and clients. As he does so, he has then deserved the right to ask each salesperson, “What personal value have you delivered to all of our Target Accounts? And what value do you bring that no one else does?” Be prepared for a look of bewilderment as they have never been taught to think this way. But the ball is rolling.
Recruiting: First, the best time to recruit is when you don’t need anyone. One example from my corporate days was a salesperson who really wanted to join us. Over the course of several meetings, I told him, “Don’t go anywhere – it’s just a matter of timing.” Over this time, it became much clearer what I was getting and I learned some of his shortcomings.
Selection: One of the most crucial decisions a leader has is selecting the right candidates. A big blunder I hear often is “I really liked him.” Bad idea. Likeability is good, but I’ll choose a hard-driving person almost every time.
When I’m retained by a client, I help reverse the talk/listen ratio. By that, I mean that the interviewer only speaks 10 percent of the time and the other 90 percent is dedicated to listening intently to what the candidate is saying.
The candidates should be given a skills assessment. I utilize a 25+ page “personality profile by profession” printed out enabling me to ask more refined questions. And having a great mentor involved in the interviewing and selecting process is one of the best investments that will be made on behalf of the sales leader.
Training and education:The majority of B2B entities invest significant resources on product training, but slim to no resources are allotted for sales and management training and education. For more success, I suggest that formula be reversed.
Sales training and education often fail due to one primary reason: lack of monitoring the implementation of newly learned skills. That results in training being called what it is – a cost. Each time after I have learners in the classroom, we collectively select the 6-10 new skills that are to be acted on. And we follow-up to learn of successes and failures (temporary).
The one aspect that gets more return on investment is 1-on-1 education. Every sales leader and salesperson is different and has different needs. That’s why 1-on-1 sessions work so well. Each session is just for “Bud” or “Mary”. At the conclusion of the ½ day session, we list the specific skills, habits and traits to focus on. I might add that these sessions are when the truths are laid out because most haven’t been told the truths. Why? 1) The Sales Manager hasn’t learned how to effectively mentor and 2) many managers view it as confrontational. It’s not. Telling the truths is what a sales leader must do. Conversely, not telling them the truths hurts them. I plainly label that posture as cowardice.
Creativity: This is definitely an area for leaders to get better at because studies show that only 1 percent of the U.S. population is naturally creative. And the small percentage of salespeople who develop their creative side of the brain dominate logic-driven salespeople’s results almost every time. Once the Sales Manager embraces creativity, she is capable of teaching it to others.
Communication: AMA’s survey of the five most important skills training for an individual are:
- Communication 65%
- Skills specific to roles 60%
- Leadership Development 53%
- Project Management 49%
- Interpersonal skills 48%
All five areas concern communication to a great degree, but #’s 1 and 5 are proof that education is desperately needed. Typically, communication is the No. 1 reason for an individual’s effectiveness and it’s also the No. 1 reason for a declining culture.
One of the best ways for a sales manager to get her primadonnas to bring value is by bringing value herself. If she’s not the best sales manager in her market, she can be (if you have chosen a progressive top-flight manager.)
Invest in her.
Bill Blades, CMC, CPSP, is a speaker and consultant specializing in sales and leadership. He can be contacted at bill@billblades.com or 480-556-1467. Also visit www.billblades.com.
