Why hire a Sales Coach when I already have a Sales Manager?
December 31st 2008 06:07
Most companies already have a sales manager or person in charge of sales in some capacity, so why hire a sales coach? Many sales mangers are not trained in the subtleties of effective sales coaching nor have they developed the necessary skills and tools to be effective sales leaders. The most common way to hire a sales manager is to simply promote your best sales person. This logic suggests this person is the most qualified to lead the sales team based on their past sales achievements. This type of ‘promotion by necessity’ is common, but not commonly successful. In the process you may even lose your top sales performer when their leadership abilities fail to match their sales ability.
The key reason being: Great sales people don’t often make great sales managers!
Why? This is largely due to the behaviors inherent to traditional individual salesmanship. At the risk of grossly generalizing these individuals can be highly competitive by nature and many can often be found running by their own set of rules. These rules usually forged through the metaphorical hard yards early in their sales role by a lack of sales structure and appropriate support. Many sales stars can be described as egocentric, disorganized, manipulating, persuasive and let’s not forget charming. Often embodying the true entrepreneurial spirit, the sales star by nature will just get out there and make things happen! And yes of course, they may even cut a corner or two in the process. This poses an interesting but challenging dilemma for their sales managers or senior leaders.
To promote such individuals to sales manager is to promote the same individual behaviors. More often than not, these behaviours are challenging to replicate successfully without ramification. The decision to do so will play a huge role in developing your organisations sales culture. This is why so many sales teams operate by the 80/20 principle, with 80% of the sales being generated by 20% of the sales team and the rest merely making up the numbers. Usually the successful few are doing things very differently based on what they know or have learned in the role through their own positive and negative experiences. The normally enthusiastic but struggling majority is left to make up the numbers. Sales models that demonstrate this type of unbalanced success are clearly lacking the right leadership, sales management, sales support and sales coaching structure.
A sales coach’s role in the above scenario would be to coach the sales manager and sales team members to demonstrate common habitual behaviours and skills across the entire team for optimum sales team performance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Trent Leyshan is the Founder of BOOM Sales!Australia’s most inspirational Sales Training Company and the creator of BOOMOLOGY!™ Sales Training Methodology.
For more Sales Blogs go to www.boomsales.com.au/blog
The key reason being: Great sales people don’t often make great sales managers!
Why? This is largely due to the behaviors inherent to traditional individual salesmanship. At the risk of grossly generalizing these individuals can be highly competitive by nature and many can often be found running by their own set of rules. These rules usually forged through the metaphorical hard yards early in their sales role by a lack of sales structure and appropriate support. Many sales stars can be described as egocentric, disorganized, manipulating, persuasive and let’s not forget charming. Often embodying the true entrepreneurial spirit, the sales star by nature will just get out there and make things happen! And yes of course, they may even cut a corner or two in the process. This poses an interesting but challenging dilemma for their sales managers or senior leaders.
To promote such individuals to sales manager is to promote the same individual behaviors. More often than not, these behaviours are challenging to replicate successfully without ramification. The decision to do so will play a huge role in developing your organisations sales culture. This is why so many sales teams operate by the 80/20 principle, with 80% of the sales being generated by 20% of the sales team and the rest merely making up the numbers. Usually the successful few are doing things very differently based on what they know or have learned in the role through their own positive and negative experiences. The normally enthusiastic but struggling majority is left to make up the numbers. Sales models that demonstrate this type of unbalanced success are clearly lacking the right leadership, sales management, sales support and sales coaching structure.
A sales coach’s role in the above scenario would be to coach the sales manager and sales team members to demonstrate common habitual behaviours and skills across the entire team for optimum sales team performance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Trent Leyshan is the Founder of BOOM Sales!Australia’s most inspirational Sales Training Company and the creator of BOOMOLOGY!™ Sales Training Methodology.
For more Sales Blogs go to www.boomsales.com.au/blog
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