Whenever a sales team is failing, the truth is that a large part of the responsibility falls on the manager. It is important to understand the reasons why sales managers fail in order to improve conversions and sales. Ryan Grigson highlights some really important reasons why there are often sales managers that fail:
Not Being Able To Transfer Skills
Most sales managers become members of a sales team due to the fact they can quickly win and identify business. The problem is that really good selling skills do not have value and are of no use when they cannot be transferred to the team. Whenever taking on leadership roles, the focus needs to be put on the team as opposed to the individual. It does not really matter how good the manager is at making sales since the individuals inside the sales team are those doing the work.
White House Syndrome
White House Syndrome in sales means that the individual spends too much time in the corporate office and ends up being caught up in meetings, reports and other tasks. Because of this, the sales manager can lose touch with what happens in the real world. It is so easy to forget why you were hired in the first place: in order to coach and train the sales team and reach high performance level. This is not something that can happen inside the corporate office.
Coaching and training need to be done through direct contact with the entire sales team. At the same time, there is a need to always be connected to clients and prospects.
Managing Too Much
If you are a sales manager, you have specific responsibilities and duties. However, when the business is small, it is often noticed that sales managers are responsible for way too much. This is especially the case in startups where the CEO or general manager also acts as sales manager and even HR manager.
We have to understand that in order to build a really good sales team, one that is effective and can reach business goals, the sales manager has to focus on the job at hand. There are limited numbers of hours in a day. If the primary focus is put on coaching and training the sales team while monitoring and offering feedback, the team becomes more effective.
Improper Feedback
Speaking about feedback, one of the tough parts of being a sales manager is growing individuals inside the team. The best sales manager will need to set character and behavior expectations while offering feedback whenever it is needed. The feedback that is given is paramount for the efficiency of the entire sales team.
In many cases sales managers fail to give the tough feedback that is needed to help individuals in the team flourish. This often happens because of being afraid to not be liked. It is not the job of the sales manager to be liked at a personal level. You cannot be liked by everyone so be sure that you offer the right advice at the right time and that you do not make a compromise simply because of being afraid of not being popular.
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