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Many sales managers believe their job is to be the "sales star"
for the company. They accompany salespeople calling on key
accounts and help to close them. They are "on stage" and perform
for their salespeople, demonstrating "how to do it." Other sales
managers batter salespeople with numbers and weekly reports.
They chant, "We MUST do better," but rarely help people
understand what needs to be done better, and even more
important, how to do it better.
A sales manager performs four different roles - used at
different times. A good manager is a mentor, a supervisor, a
trainer, and a coach. An outstanding manager knows when and to
what degree each role should be exercised. For now, let's focus
on the role of a coach.
Some managers confuse good coaching with "cheerleading." They
pass around positive "one liners," motivational articles, and
tapes. Being positive is essential, but cheerleading in place of
honest discussion of actions and results is counterproductive.
To be an effective coach, you must have the respect of the
people you manage. You have no potency* without respect.
Do not confuse respect for being liked by your people. Being
liked and being respected are not one and the same. Without
respect for the sales manager, salespeople listen, but have no
intent to change. When there is respect for the manager, change
and growth occur. The impact can be great.
Another condition necessary for effective coaching is
permission. Sales people must be permitted to fail. A coaching
session will have little value if the salespeople cannot share
exactly what happened during those times when the outcome of
their efforts was less than desirable. If they are constantly
worried about being attacked by the manager, the coaching
session will be filled mostly with smoke and illusions. In the
right atmosphere, one free of assigning blame, the true
information can be discussed.
In order for a free flow of information between coach and
salesperson to take place, the sales manager must provide
protection. Allowing salespeople to be honest and not using it
against them later goes a long way to gaining their respect.
An effective coaching strategy is to begin the session by
starting with the result of the call and working backwards. When
a problem or roadblock is identified, look for the underlying
behaviors and actions that created the situation. Next, map out
a more appropriate strategy that will prevent the situation from
recurring. Take particular care discussing salespeople's
performance and not attacking their person. When you separate
the person from his role performance, you can focus on improving
results without the salesperson feeling the need to protect his
self-esteem.
*Having potency - the respect of your salespeople, granting
them permission to fail and be honest about it, and providing
them protection as they work through the changes necessary to
improve are not only the hallmarks of an effective manager and
coach, but are the ingredients necessary for your sales team to
reach greater levels of success.
© Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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