Avoid these 5 Common Mistakes when hiring a Sales Manager – Mistake 1

To start reading this series from the beginning, please go here.

Hiring Mistake 1: Not Understanding the Role of the Sales Manager

Over the next few weeks, we are discussing five of the most common mistakes that are made when hiring for the sales manager position, and how you can avoid them.

When recruiting a new Sales Manager, it is imperative that you understand exactly what you require from this position. Not so long ago, it was still OK for a Sales Manager to be … well, just a manager. It would have been good enough for this position to supervise the staff; ensure assignments meet established standards and deadlines; and get the sales team to respond to customers’ needs in a way that meets their expectations. Nothing is wrong with all this, but the fast paced, technology driven and mostly unpredictable business environment that we operate in today calls for a special Sales Manager with unique skills who can drive a key element of your sales growth strategy. They must be able to drive and build your sales team’s capacity to win new accounts.

Here are some of the key functions that you want your Sales Manager to perform:

Create and actively promote a performance-based sales culture by managing behavior, activities, pipeline and results.
Coach regularly via pre-call planning, post-call debriefing and joint calls.
Guide each team member in developing motivational goals with a corresponding implementation plan.
Implement a consistent recruiting plan to grow the capacity of the sales team.

INTERVIEWING TIPS:

Ask your prospective new Sales Manager these questions:

What steps do you take to deal with substandard performance?
After you’ve had two one-on-one meetings with a poor performing salesperson and there has been no improvement, what do you do next?
When your sales people tell you that they didn’t hit their numbers because the economy is still flat, how do you respond?
Tell me about your process for helping your team create alignment between personal and professional goals?
What does your recruiting plan look like?

In our next posting, we’ll look at another common mistake made when hiring a Sales Manager – not getting the right fit for your selling environment.

Sales Growth Question: What steps are you taking to ensure that you know exactly what role your Sales Manager should play in your growth strategy?

Sales Growth Lesson: The unpredictable business environment that we operate in today calls for a unique Sales Manager that can help your company win new accounts.

NOTES:

For the full webinar that I did for EcSell Institute, go to 5 Mistakes Webinar.

PPT Slides can be viewed at 5 Mistakes Presentation.

October 31, 2011 | Filed Under Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Recruiting | Leave a Comment

5 Common Mistakes when hiring a Sales Manager – Introduction

Puzzle Pieces

At a recent economic summit, global economist-turned-strategist, Roger Martin-Fagg, author of the book, ‘Making sense of the economy’ made these conclusions:

Companies that lack a clear value proposition WILL fail in the coming economic malaise.
Companies with a clear value proposition but without strong finances WILL also fail.

However, he also made this conclusion about those who will succeed:

Companies that WILL SUCCEED do not only have a strong value proposition and strong financial health, but they will also place great emphasis on selecting and growing talent, their greatest competitive resource.

Roger’s comments helped me realize once again the importance of making the right selection for the position of sales manager. Why is this so important? Because your sales manager is responsible for growing your sales talent – a critical competitive resource.

Studies show that hiring the right sales manager can be a key growth strategy and some even indicate that a sales manager can increase the sales performance of a team by at least 26%. My experience is that the right sales manager, who is committed to building a high performance sales culture, can produce even greater results.

However, this is a high stakes venture because the opposite is also true—the wrong sales manager can sap valuable resources, being a restrictive factor that sabotages growth. These are five tell-tale signs that you don’t have the right sales manager:

–Weak Performance Management

–Lack of Motivation

–Ineffective Coaching

–Misguided Recruiting

–Poor Mentoring

In assisting companies with their sales growth efforts, I’ve noticed that the hiring of the right Sales Manager is often an area where business owners struggle. So, for the next 5 postings, we’ll examine the five common mistakes that companies make in hiring a sales manager and what you can do to avoid those mistakes.

Sales Growth Question: What can you do to ensure that you avoid the cost of a bad hire for your Sales Manager Position?

Sales Growth Lesson: Hiring the right Sales Manager for your unique circumstances can form the foundation for your sales team’s future success.

NOTE: To listen to the entire EcSELL Institute webinar, go to http://bit.ly/uwFu6t

PPT Slides can be viewed at http://bit.ly/tTux5g