Stop Micromanaging Your Sales Staff
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who is a professional sales person. She was telling me about how annoyed she’s become with her sales manager, and how he’s micromanaging the sales team. She told me about how they are now required to make 9 sales calls/day, they have to write a detailed call report for each sales call, and need to host at least 5 weekend events for their prospective clients. Her manager has even eliminated office days, as he wants everyone making their mandatory 45 calls/week.
When I heard her telling me this, I couldn’t help but think of the message that is being sent to the sales team. The shift has been taken away from sales effectiveness, and is now focused on quantity instead of quality. If you stop to think about this, during a normal 8 hour day, making 9 sales calls means that you have 53 minutes/call, including drive time between stops. How much time can the sales person spend building a relationship with the customer in this situation? This sounds more like an HMO healthcare plan than it does a sales team, doesn’t it? Throw in weekend events and evenings sitting at the computer writing needless call reports, and he may soon have a mutiny on his hands!
So, if you are a sales manager, and you really want to increase the production and effectiveness of your sales team, what should you do? Here are a couple of tips:
Tip #1 – Manage to results, and empower your sales people
The goal of a professional sales person is to sell. So, let them. Your job as the sales manager is to protect your sales people from corporate micromanagement so that they can spend their time doing what you hired them to do. Make sure each member of your team knows what their sales goals are, and empower them to figure out the best way for them to achieve that goal. Imposing a “9 calls/day” rule will only force your sales people to focus on hitting their number of calls, instead of building relationships that will lead to long term sales success.
Tip #2 – Provide your team with the tools they need to be successful
Make sure that your sales team has all the tools and training that they need to do the job. Track and hold them accountable to generating results, and when they don’t, help them to figure out why they aren’t producing. If you have an effective sales system, you should be able to identify the problem areas that your sales person is having, and help them to overcome these problems.
Tip #3 – Stop trying to cover your butt, and start being a leader
Most micromanagement is based on fear. What if my team doesn’t perform? How will I show my boss that I am doing my job? Endless call reports and ivory tower edicts about how many calls to make/day stem from fear. If you focus on your fear, and start implementing these sorts of practices, you’re fears are going to become reality! Instead, get out in the field, work with your people, and find out what you can do to get rid of barriers, instead of adding them.
Become a leader for your sales team by removing barriers and empowering them to do what you hired them to do, and you’ll get the performance and productivity out of your sales team that you are looking for.
Happy Selling!
