How to Be a Better Sales Manager, Part 2 - Keep Your Distance

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How to Be a Better Sales Manager, Part 2 - Keep Your Distance

By Brad Shorr | February 7, 2008

This is the second in a 10-part series, How to Be a Better Sales Manager. It’s my belief that the sales manager is underserved. There’s plenty of training and coaching available for sales people, but managers, the unheralded heroes of sales success, are all too often left to their own devices. These posts are designed for sales managers who want to do better and are looking for ideas.
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One of the toughest things a sales manager has to do is define his or her relationship with the sales rep. Which best describes yours?

I’m an advocate for my sales people. I represent their interests to management and solve their problems so they can concentrate on sales.
I’m a coach and a mentor. I work with reps on a deeply personal level to bring their skills and passion to the surface so they can succeed.
I’m a trainer. I show reps how it’s done, often by my own example. I am a teacher.
I’m a taskmaster. My job is to provide discipline and motivation so reps hit their numbers. They may not like me, but they respect me.

No doubt you fill all these roles to one degree or another. But it is always important, especially when your role is mainly that of advocate or a coach, to keep some personal distance between you and the rep.

To be an effective advocate or coach, you must develop a personal relationship with your people. However, if the relationship becomes too close, you will find yourself in a position that is permanently riddled with conflict.

You will find it difficult to discipline reps because you’re too much their friend. Similarly, reps will find it difficult to accept discipline from you, because you’ve stepped out of your role.
When a termination becomes unavoidable, you will avoid it. This is bad for both the company and the rep, but out of friendship, you will choose to ignore the problem or take half measures.
Your boss, sensing your conflicted attitude, will begin to work around you and/or question your motives. This creates a whole new set of serious, troubling, trust-related issues.

Ultimately, you must base decisions on what is in the best interest of the company. By all means, strive to reconcile company interests with the professional interests of your reps. But when it comes to reconciling company interests with the personal interests of reps, be very, very careful.

For instance, suppose you have a veteran rep, Joe, who is suffering a personal crisis - a divorce, for instance - and his business is tanking. How far will you go to help Joe? Will you tell upper management about the situation, even though doing so may jeopardize his job? Will you make excuses for him? Will you conceal the facts about the situation? Will you take on his workload? Out of sympathy, will you give him great leads even though you know other reps will follow them up better? Will you allow Joe to consume so much of your time that other reps are forced to fend for themselves?

These questions leave lots of gray area, but you never want to cross certain lines. The best rule of thumb -

Never put yourself in a position where a rep, based on your relationship, expects you to put his or her personal interests ahead of company interests.

The best way for a situation like Joe’s to unfold is this. To the extent you can accommodate Joe and support him through his crisis, make every effort. But if the time comes when you can’t accommodate him due to legitimate business considerations, Joe will be disappointed, but not surprised.

Be concerned, but keep your distance.

(Photo courtesy of Bluedharma)

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