When I made the move from outside sales to sales management, I was secretly terrified. I had always been a top performer on the road, but had absolutely no managerial training. I needed to get up to speed quickly as I knew I had just one shot to launch effectively. I thought about great managers and awful managers from my past and how I would incorporate those experiences into my soon-to-be-discovered managerial style. I read a few books on managerial techniques, gathering some good big picture ideas, but still felt unprepared for my first day on the job.
There are a number of factors that will influence the relationship you have with members of your new sales team. In this section, we will investigate each influencer and present strategies for best dealing with each potential situation.
AGE
Although I would like to believe that new managers are judged strictly by the talent that they bring to the table and their ability to manage, unfortunately this is not reality. When you initially meet someone, your first impressions form the basis of your relationship until future action and mutual discovery replaces your preliminary categorizations.
Your age and experience as compared to that of your sales team can, and likely will, have a significant influence on the internal relationships you are working to build. More importantly, your very first communication with your new troops is a critical defining moment that will either enable your team to reach full stride quickly and congruently or will delay performance optimization.
If you are a “Young Manager”, defined in this book as having less than ten years of total experience within your given industry, you need to be extremely cognizant about the way you are being perceived by your direct reports, especially if you are new to the organization or industry and are assuming leadership of an existing sales force. The more experienced members of your team may think that they know more than you about the business, and often times they do. These individuals are commonly set in their ways and change averse. They may anticipate your desire to clean up sales processes, implement new initiatives, and establish goals as a departure from their current daily routine, requiring them to expend additional effort. As such, you are placed in a position of conflict with these subordinates on your very first day on the job.
It is very possible that you will receive a tremendous amount of pressure from these veteran employees to operate from their own recipe book. For example, if you require all sales representatives to submit pre-call strategies prior to visiting a customer to better understand the salesperson’s thought process and rationale for calling on certain customers, the veterans may argue that they have been selling for 30 years, know their customers, and should be exempt from this protocol. It is absolutely critical that you do not show these employees preferential treatment. When it comes to the team’s recipe book, all salespeople should operate the same regardless of experience. If you relinquish control over your sales process, you lose control over your sales force. However, individual action plans should be developed for every employee to address their specific needs, which may require actions that go beyond the sales team’s standard recipe book.
Employees with a similar amount of experience as you can have a varied reaction. Sometimes these individuals they view you as a peer, and will open up on a personal level much quicker than your veteran salespeople. In some cases, however, these individuals will be jealous that over a similar period of time, you have advanced your career faster than they have.
Individual Launch – 1 hour per employee
- If they have more experience, admit a lot to learn and appreciate their support
- Learn about their background / experience / personal info (married, kids, favorite hobbies)
- Let them identify strengths and weaknesses
- Ask what should they expect of you?
- Ask what should you expect from them – individually and as a group?
- Supplement both lists
- Identify what they love about the company, what they would like to see changed
- Identify top accounts, any major open issues or territorial concerns
- Identify their career path, desire and expectations for advancement (here you identify employees that may have jealousy issues as they wanted your position, rationalize that they did not have the appropriate experience, visibility or support from previous manager and implement action plan to get them prepared for next step)
The First Team Meeting
- Start exactly ON TIME, dress well
- Set up room in circle to enhance collaboration – not presenting TO them
- Introduce yourself / background
- Establish corporate vision / goals
- Introduce recipe book concept
- Introduce reporting requirements
Before you will be able to optimize your sales force’s performance, you first need to establish mutual expectations and secure their respect. Most importantly, you must do this while remaining collaborative. Often times, a new employee’s level of engagement will be revealed in your very first meeting. The best way to do so is communicate your vision,
If you already have a significant amount of experience within an industry (i.e. 15+), it is likely that you will be respected when stepping into your new managerial role. Immediately taking control while remaining collaborative will demonstrate your understanding of the industry, the company’s needs, and how it relates to the day to day activities of your sales force.
Sales people need to be empowered to make decisions. Successful managers immediately
Other factors come into play that can influence this. If you have 10 years of experience in the shoe industry and become a new manager for a company selling cars, your perceived and practical level of experience becomes significantly diluted.
CH 1) No Jerry mcGuire – determine direction and implent action
Managerial concerns : influence b/w your age and sub age – same sees you as a peer (buddy) or jealous, older sees you as inexper, younger moldable : Delegation : reporting requirements: budgeting : personalities : goal setting / action plans : performance reviews : time allocated to each rep : motivators : hiring / promoting tips : firing an employee : communication / involvement : pairing up on calls – role identification within meetings : customer interaction (when and how to get involved) : assist sub in developing accouint ownership : touch calls :
Consider the size of what we percieve to be the universe – how do we know that we are not a speck of dust in some greater creature’s universe?
One of my most talented employees once said – I have spent my entire career trying to clean up the problem, without ever having the opportunity to address the root cause.