The Sales Manager Dilemma

Nobody should generalise about sales managers. There are so many different types of business, and so many different strategies and tactics for making them work. There are so many different approaches a sales manager can take. But there's one dilemma most sales managers confront constantly.

Stuck between the CEO's need for revenue, sales guys complaints about product features, price and marketing, and challenging customers, the sales manager has to find a way of making the impossible possible.

Part of the job is training, of course. Few sales people have all the skills needed. Not many work just quite as hard as they could. They aren't that good at accepting other people's strategy. Worse they really don't like sticking to the rules. Managers need to get over that problem, constantly grooming new kids on the block to replace the superstars competitors will recruit away.

The other, and more visible, part is making the numbers. That's where the dilemma comes in.


Allowing sales people to learn from their mistakes requires them to make those mistakes. But the demand for performance dictates the sales manager can't let this happen. Business has to be won, whatever.

Ultimately the sales manager has to step in and win the business for the rep. The sales guy gets recognition for the sale. The sales manager gets yet another problem. Now the rep knows there's no need to learn, because the boss will always step in and make it work for them.

Back in the day working for Nixdorf Computer, Richard was a perfectly pleasant but ineffectual rep. The company expected every sales person to be competent demonstrating our Comet software, but Richard wouldn't learn how to do it.

When I demanded he should learn, Richard refused, point blank.

"There's no point in me learning that stuff" he said, "because I'll never be as good as you, and you'll never let me do it on my own".

Eventually Richard got fired, but not before I'd made him more money than his efforts deserved.