- There are a lot of responsibilities
as a field sales manager
and you're being pulled in many directions.
The part that took me a while to learn
was giving up the accounts that I used to call on.
I took great pride in these customers
that I had work to cultivate so well,
worked hard to grow revenue,
and become friends with buyers.
Now I had to let others do that job.
I needed to let go and do what the best sales managers do
and that's empower their sales team.
I love this quote from Tom Peters
that sums up well the responsibility
you now have as a field sales manager.
"I see the manager's principle role as identifying things
"that get in people's way by asking them
"and meticulously getting those things out of their way."
There are many best practices we can follow
to help our sales staff do their jobs
and the list can be extensive.
I picked five practices that I think need
to be included for every sales manager.
Coaching, the better trained your staff is
and constructive methods you give to them to improve
can only make them perform better,
sell more, be successful, and in the end,
make you look good too.
Internal communication,
your staff is inevitably going to need your help
managing communications with various departments.
I used to call this air cover, or blocking.
We need our salespeople communicating,
updating CRMs and following up departments
in the home office, however, we need them selling first.
It's a balance and not easy to master but when you do,
salespeople can do the jobs they're good at.
Then other departments get the important
feedback from the marketplace to do theirs.
Sales calls, you're itching to be in front of customers
but you have to remember,
you're not the point of contact anymore.
Your field representative is running the show with the buyer
but you need to be there when they have questions.
Frankly, when you have that teamwork in sync, it's great.
Motivation, sales is fun but it's tough,
you know, you've been there.
Your job as a manager is to encourage,
support, reward, and inspire them to be the best
salesperson they can be.
Listen to their needs, congratulate them on their successes,
be a shoulder for them to lean on
when they've lost a tough sale,
and model the way with your leadership.
Listening, Sales 101, right?
You've been trained to ask questions
of your buyer and listen more.
This is one of the great skills to learn.
The same skillset applies to be an effective manager.
Communicate with them, ask them what they need,
how you can assist them more,
and with these actions, they'll know you're listening.
Surely you'll have other best practices to add to this list
but regardless, if you're successful,
it leads to enabling your teams to do their jobs.
It seems obvious but many sales managers
have a bad habit of getting in the way.
Give your sales staff the tools, the coaching,
the encouragement and then give them the freedom to sell.
The best field representatives love their independence
and by empowering them, more often than not,
you'll be rewarded by having a motivated team,
generating positive sales results.