Picture this scenario. You just get your start as a sales executive in a company that’s been around for over 10 years. You go through training with the training manager and you go out in the field with some of the most experienced sales guys and girls in the business. You feel a little intimidated by these guys because they know what they are doing and how everything works. About three months go past and you have a handle on how the company works and your sales are growing but you are a long way off from being a ‘top sales gun’ in the company.
One day you are summoned into the State Managers office and you know that you are about to get fired for something. You sit down at his desk, heart pounding and sweating like a pig because you really need that job. He opens with the usual, “you’re doing a great job, valued member, blah, blah, blah”. You close your eyes and wait for it……”I want to promote you to the Sales Managers position!” Not exactly what you were expecting. That’s exactly what happened to me. I was dumbfounded and asked him why he thought I would be good for the role. He said that to be a good sales manager, you don’t have to be the best sales person in the company. He also said that he watched me for awhile and was impressed with the fact that I was the only one who welcomed new sales people, showed them the ropes and took them out with me on sales calls.
To be an effective sales (infact ANY sort of manager) you have to be ‘wired’ in a certain way. Just because a sale person is excellent at his or her job does not mean they are ‘wired’ to be an effective sales manager. One guy in that company after he found out that I got the job after only three months was furious. His argument was that he’d been there for years and was the best sales person and that he should have got the job. Wrong!! He was hopeless with people, not patient and just didn’t have the skill set to be an effective manager. This argument went on with him for years but he never changed his opinion.
Don’t for one minute think though that just because you are ‘wired’ a certain way that you don’t need to learn any more skills to be an effective manager. In fact, I know of quite a few people who were like me, good with people, good listeners etc, but turned out to be hopeless at management in the end. I will go into more detail about some easy skills you can learn to be an effective manager in my next post.
Posted in Management Articles For Managers | Tags: effective manager, promote, promotion, sales executive, sales manager
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just like with anything, the more you do it the better and more relaxed you become . thanks for your comment.
cheers
andrew b.
I love sales. It’s the one job that almost anyone can do. If you’re willing to talk to people, you can do it.
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Thanks for the compliment. And no, it’s not always about experience or about that piece of paper you have from a university or a college. It has a lot more to do with what your abilities are and if you ‘fit’ the role. When I left school though back in the 80′s, it was the other way around, that piece of paper is what you needed to get anywhere. Thankfully, times have changed for the better so that it’s fairer on everybody.
wow! nice post! i was inspired! i strongly believe that you don’t have to be the most experienced to get a good job that fits for you..and one should also be open to opinions and growth!!
Thanks for your comment. The problem was too that everyone was too busy trying to make their own sales to worry about new people. We didn’t have a proper training system in place at the time either which didn’t help.
it’s very nice to know that you also considered new sale people. for they were underestimated by most experienced ones.