From Salesperson to Sales Manager
Making the most dangerous leap in sales

Question: Jeffrey, what are your thoughts on taking our best and senior salesperson and making him/her a sales manager? What are the benefits and downfalls of doing this? -Michael

JG: This is a great idea if you want to gain a bad manager AND lose your best salesperson. The most difficult jump in business, for two basic reasons, is from sales person to sales manager. The first reason is companies don’t train managers before allowing them to take the position. And secondly, the company doesn’t beef up the sales force to absorb the loss.

Almost all the companies I’ve worked with have elevated someone from Great Salesperson to Unprepared Sales Manager.

The following scenario almost always occurs:

1. The Great Salesperson stops daily selling.

2. The Great Salesperson has had or is provided little or no sales-management training.

3. The Unprepared Sales Manager is placed in the awkward position of going from friend to boss. Petty, jealous employees begin to resent him or her and create morale defections – if not job defections.

4. Untrained, unqualified Unprepared Sales Manager is now responsible for all squabbles, and will tend to play favorites based on pre-existing friendships.

5. Unprepared Sales Manager is now responsible to train and develop all of his personnel. He tends to use his own techniques for selling, when in fact, they’re not universally applicable.

6. Unprepared Sales Manager lacks understanding that he must be a coach, a leader, and a teacher – not just a manager.

So, let’s review: I give up my best salesperson. I create a manager who is somewhere between resented and abandoned. I have an untrained manager. I have a poor trainer. I have a person who doesn’t know whether to be a friend or a boss. I have instantly lowered my sales productivity, and I stand an excellent chance of losing the person either through morale, rumor, poor performance, or utter frustration. So far, this doesn’t sound like a real good idea.

If you’re thinking about elevating a great salesperson to a manager, why don’t you insert the word “great” in front of manager before you give the promotion?

In order for that to occur, you need six months between the time you offer the position and gain acceptance – and actually have the great salesperson take over the job. During that six-month period, here’s what needs to happen:

1. The prospective sales manager begins taking courses so he can learn leadership qualities and coaching skills before assuming the position.

2. Present employees are brought into a meeting to talk about how they will cooperate with and work harder for their new boss.

3. Keep the manager as a part-time player. This may be temporary, but it’s important that the new manager stay in touch by remaining an active salesperson.

4. Set specific achievement benchmarks – both in personal learning skills and expected sales numbers for the new manager and his team. When people set goals together, there’s a greater likelihood that the goal will be achieved than if an arbitrary quota is issued.

5. The new manager must meet with each team member to agree on a game plan for their success. The salesperson must also agree on some form of accountability. The sales manager must convey the fact that he will be closely watching progress.

6. The new manager must harness the power of encouragement. The new manager will do irreparable harm if he tries to immediately exert newfound authority. The new manager will fail if he tries to be a “tough boss.” By becoming an encouraging boss, the new manager will automatically be seen as one who helps people succeed – not threaten them with a quota.

Sales management has very little to do with “managing” and everything to do with leading, teaching, and coaching.

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, and Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless. He can be reached at 704/333-1112 or e-mail to salesman@gitomer.com.

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