So You Want the Sales Manager’s Job

Do you really? You might want to think again. But when you do get promotion we’ve offered some advice on our Promoted to Sales Manager page.

The Sales Manager is ultimately everybody’s fall guy, with all the problems and none of the fun. There are two types of Sales Manager, and you might not want to be either.

The sales MANAGER
Less capable revenue producers often get promoted. They tend to work harder at fitting in with the rest of the organization – team players.

They tend not to argue with new initiatives, coming down “from the top” even when those are stupid – more supportive.

They’re happier in internal meetings and writing reports, than in meetings with customers and writing orders – more accommodating.

Unfortunately they’re no good at what the sales manager should be doing – helping the strugglers, staying out of the way of the stars, and protecting them all from management interference.

The rest of the organization might like the sales MANAGER for a while, but ultimately failure to meet targets causes the down fall. The sales team never likes the sales MANAGER -really just a management message carrier

Managers who can’t sell will never find a secure refuge in the sales manager’s shoes, because the end game is all about making numbers and they need selling, not managing.

The SALES Manager
The top revenue producers also often get promoted. They know how to “sell” this businesses stuff, in this market, in this economic climate.

And they always make the number, which is what the job is really about.

Who better to coach the under performers and newbies that somebody who cuts it, all the time?

This works for the sales guy who wants less money, for more aggravation.

- Less Money
The top producing sales guys have to accept they’ll make less money on promotion.

Managing their own territory they get compensated directly for their own skills and effort. Managing a team’s territory they get compensated for other peoples, and in every team there are under performers.

The good gets averaged out with the bad, targets are harder to achieve and accelerators amount to a lot less.

- More Aggravation
As a producer the sales rep only has to worry about handling the customer.

The top people are pretty good at that, and anyway they can always walk away from a deal – plenty more fish in the sea.

As a Sales Manager, handling customers is the only easy part of the job.

Under-performing sales reps are always the least likely to accept guidance and direction. They’re happy being losers as long as they can do it their way. Eventually they’ll be “let go” but for a while they’re going to cause real problems.

The SALES manager’s problem is he/she is carrying a full target for every 60% performer. For every loser there has to be two stars, (and they aren’t going to enjoy carrying passengers any more than the manager).

- More Risk
Top producers ALWAYS outlast the sales manager. Over-performing sales reps are pure gold, and nobody wants to lose them. They can play golf everyday, take three hour lunches and cheat on expenses – nobody cares as long as the orders keep coming.

On the other hand, sales managers are always putting their job on the line – revenue targets are like that and every quarter is another round of Russian Roulette.

The problems don’t stop with the targets. Sales managers are expected to be supportive members of the management team, accepting daft initiatives from marketing, HR, and the beancounters, and making sure the sales team does the same.

Sales managers who make targets ALWAYS end up in trouble with the beancounters and culture police. Making numbers with poor sales people and keeping to stupid rules dreamed up by some politician just isn’t possible.

Summary

- The sales manager will always get fired, if he hangs around long enough.

- Sales guys NEVER end up with the CEO’s job.

- If you want a job with prospects for promotion, don’t go into sales.

- On the other hand if you want to have fun, and make money doing IT your way get a job in sales and be good at it.

- When asked if you’ll take the open sales manager position find a really good excuse for declining.

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