We’re going to kick off a little four week tactical series. It’s time to get in the trenches and uncover some weaknesses not only in our sales processes, but in the structure of sales too.

We’ll dive into sales management, cold calling, sales operations and objection handling tips.

We’re kicking off our tactical series from the top with sales management tips.

SALES LEADERSHIP IS BROKEN.

I’ve never had a great sales manager. None. Literally ever.

I can’t think back to a single sales manager that impacted me positively, which is what drove me to want to change it as a whole.

Now, that’s not to say they don’t exist and you could have only experienced great sales leaders but due to the change in landscape throughout sales organizations nowadays, it’s much harder to find.

So, how can we change it?

1. Get out of the way.

This might sound counterintuitive but the best way to make an impact on your team is not to micromanage. Straddling the line between being able to coach, give support, provide resources and tools to set them up for success, yet be able to step back and not helicopter over them is a balance. But it’s integral and underrated.

I wrote about one experience I had as a VP of Sales where I had to travel for business one day (hard to imagine now) and in between flights and meetings I was getting texts coming in about sales numbers for half of the day, where they were at, why they hadn’t been updated … are you kidding? Half a day!

Give your people space to do their jobs — and trust that they’re being done. Even if you’re managing teams of reps and SDRs, you may be reliant on daily metrics and activity level but don’t be that person that every day is staring at the dashboard watching who isn’t exactly hitting those numbers and calling it out. Trust that their process is going to work, and if it doesn’t …

2. Know when to step in.

If you see a dip in momentum, results, achievement — it’s time to get in and get searching for answers. Being a strong sales manager is being able to provide support, and knowing when to do so.

It also is going to mean advocating hard for your team. Due to remote work culture, hires can come from anywhere, which makes the rope of tolerance for “a month of bad results” much shorter.

Upper management will see weaker links on the team as an immediate loss of revenue and opportunity and will think, “we can get a new rep in here that we’ll never have to deal with worrying about them making us money and hitting quota.”

False.

Even if it holds some truth, it’s not always going to be the case. So, get comfortable advocating for your people if you’ve been working with them, have built rapport and have goals in place.

You’re the one working with them daily — get to truly know them. Ask questions and uncover what motivates them or what part of the process might be holding them back because those two things will help drive them.

3. Coaching, coaching, coaching.

Unfortunately, because of the shift in how we view sales managers and leadership as a whole it’s becoming increasingly more difficult for sales managers to actually manage.

Tony Hughes came on the Surf and Sales podcast recently and talked about how we need to help “return managers to the age of innocence” where they can actually manage and coach.

So set out and truly create opportunities to coach your people. In one-on-ones, listen to their struggles but also be prepared to know what their downfalls are already so you can bring knowledge to the table and open up the conversation with your reps.

It can be hard for some to ask for help or know what resources exist for them so show them. Talk about them. Hold sessions with everyone. Don’t get lazy on why you wanted to manage in the first place: to drive impact and help people grow into their success.

Be the change we all wish to see in sales and in leadership. Horror stories circulate faster than wildfire nowadays and unfortunately have become the norm but it shouldn’t – and doesn’t – have to be that way.

Pro-tip: start surrounding yourself with great leaders and let their knowledge rub off on you. I’ll link a few of my favorites below.

Kevin Dorsey – VP of Inside Sales at PatientPop + you can listen to one of his episodes with the Surf and Sales podcast here

Ryan Walker – Director of Sales at Beyond Pricing. We also co-wrote “From Rep to Manager” together if you’re considering sales management and want to dive deeper you can pick up a copy here

Gabrielle Blackwell – Sales Development Manager at Gong. She’ll be joining Richard and I on Bonfire Sessions this coming week with Alexine Mudawar to discuss the future of sales being female which you can register for here.

Catie Ivey – National RVP of Sales at Demandbase. You can hear her talking about deciding early on in her life to “be a boss.”

Stay tuned for next week’s tactical series where we’ll be diving in to cold calling tips.

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The Surf and Sales Summit is SOLD OUT of both sessions! Thanks to all who expressed interest – we hope to see you in 2022.