Sales managers are hired to solve problems. They’re also hired to lead, but they end up spending an enormous time solving problems within the sales team. Say a sales person is showing consistently poor performance? Take it to the sales manager. Quarterly sales stink? Let the sales manager handle it. Hiring a new sales person? Let the sales manager take that one.
You can’t solve everything, although you may feel that you should – your ability to coach your salespeople so that you help people solve their problems instead of you solving people’s problems.
All sales managers believe in the magic behind good sales coaching. But an amateur or an average sales manager’s coaching style is rigid. It is solid and won’t budge. The sales people under him are forced to adapt to his specific coaching style.
A top sales manager does things completely the other way around.
The top sales manager dances. He or she adapts to the individual. He or she understands that each sales person is different. They’ve got their own strengths and weaknesses, and the only way to exploit those strengths and downplay those weaknesses is through the practice of different management techniques. A top sales manager know that some salespeople work best under minimal guidance. Others prefer a hands-on supervision. Sometimes a sales manager needs to be directive in his methods, sometimes a participatory approach is best.
It all depends on the situation at hand. One size doesn’t fit all.
Don’t try to manage and coach everyone the same. Be different and treat each person different. Coach them different. Lead them different. Motivate them different.
And that will make all the difference.
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