What Makes A Good Sales Manager Or Director?

A couple of years ago I worked in a marketing department for a successful warehousing company. Although my role was not to sell directly to customers, the other people in my department did exactly that. I knew from conversations I'd had with the sales manager that they wanted to take on another telesales executive to join their three-strong team – but they'd had trouble filling the position (the previous candidates they'd hired had failed to meet their minimum targets).

A few weeks later the sales manager announced he was hiring someone – an experienced telemarketing executive who'd previously worked for one of the biggest names in online publishing.

Within a month though, poor Lesley (I never did find out her second name) was gone. There are a number of reasons she failed – and a lot of them weren't her fault. The simple fact is that sales management involves a lot more than putting people in place and assessing their performance.
Here's what I think the sales manager could have done a whole lot better to support Sarah and help her achieve her targets.

Leadership

Regardless of how experienced we are, we still need guidance. Lesley knew very little about the specialist industry she was entering. Despite this, in the four short weeks she worked for the company, she received less than an hour's training – which involved the sales director reading a series of bullet points from an A4 sheet of paper.
Shameful: I wonder if that's the kind of support he got in his early career...

Processes

The other members of the sales team had grown with the company. As such, they'd tended to create their own unique ways of doing things. This meant there was no officially documented approach that could be used as part of an inductee's training. This left Lesley in a difficult predicament. She didn't understand her industry – nor did she have access to any useful sales processes she could fall back on to offset her lack of knowledge.

More than anything, the sales director (and to a lesser extent the sales manager) should be focusing on what is the best strategy to get their product to their intended market. The sales team should then be given processes designed to fulfil that strategy.

Team Cohesion

It's true that while in-house training gives sales staff the basic knowledge needed to be successful in their role, they also learn through a natural process of exposure to good practice.

This can only occur if the sales director or manager fosters an environment of inclusion, meaning they focus on building the sales team as a primary objective so they give their salespeople the best possible chance of succeeding This did not happen in Lesley's case. Instead she was expected to develop her own approach from scratch.

Other Considerations

Managing and developing people is only part of what sales managers or directors do. I would argue that they also need to be:

1. A Good All-Rounder. A sales director can be a great strategist but achieve only average results when pitching their product or service to clients.  If they're managing a team they need to be able to set an example because - especially in a sales environment - people want to be inspired by someone who can lead from the front.
2. Innovative. In order to expand their sales territories, businesses need to find new ways of marketing what they're selling. This means sales directors must remain up to date with the latest techniques being used within their industry. If they're sticking with what's safe they're limiting their results; if they're constantly trying different approaches, they'll be seen as true leaders.
3. Knowledgeable. Understanding their industry is important – but sales managers and directors also need to identify with the needs of their clients. Winning a sale is only the first part of the relationship building process – and that relationship will only continue to develop if the sales director/manager continually reassesses it to ensure provision is sufficient, and moves quickly if things change.
4. EQ Versus IQ. Adopting an intellectual approach to your sales strategies and relationship building will get you a long way as a sales director.  But you're also in charge of a team who rely on you to keep them motivated, up to date and organized. This is where EQ (emotional quotient, also know as emotional intelligence) comes in.  EQ is a big subject, but in this situation, it means that you need to see things from other people's point of view - and act with fairness, understanding and support.  If you don't do this, maybe even cause division among them, your chances of success will fall off a cliff.

What Other Attributes Are Important?

Of course, we've covered a few main topics here, but if you want to be a successful sales manager, there are a multitude of skills and considerations you need to have.
It could be worth taking a look at the online courses we offer: you can either choose from the subjects covered, or dive in for the whole Master Class which will take you through them all.