The inspiration for this column is rooted in part in the recent NBA championship won by a rookie coach, Steve Kerr, combined with my observations that we are promoting a significant number of young sellers into managerial roles. They are experiencing some success but also struggling with the transition from seller to rookie sales manager. Therefore, I am devoting this column and offering advice to all of the rookie sales managers working in the sports industry.
Be consistent: That applies to your approach, expectations, accountability and demeanor. The easiest way that a rookie sales manager can create difficulties in his or her relationship and interaction with the sales team is to be inconsistent in messaging or approach. Perceived favoritism, making exceptions, saying one thing and doing another — these are all examples of being inconsistent.
Have fun: Sales is not an easy job, but it is easy to get in a rut and lose focus. The manager needs to be attuned to the pulse of the sales team and should be able to read their emotional highs and lows. Having fun could be casual Friday, shortened offseason work hours with trips to sporting events, rafting or something else the group finds fun. It also could be only calling Irish leads on St. Patrick’s Day, determining a daily commission rate based upon an eating contest, or simply wearing a jersey or shirt from the respective alma maters and tailgating after work.
Recruit every week: A rookie sales manager usually experiences turnover of the staff he or she inherits but also will make significant mistakes in recruiting for the first time. The key to recruiting is to understand the type of individual that works best with a person’s management style. Get in the habit of reserving at least four to six hours every week for recruiting your talent pipeline. Create recruiting events, speak at colleges, create a network of contacts that can provide qualified leads for potential sellers.
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Celebrating success, in or out of the office, can build morale, but a manager must maintain the line.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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Understand motivation strategies and techniques: While it is important, almost critical, to be consistent, the rookie sales manager must also understand that people need to be motivated and managed as individuals as well as part of the team. Some sellers need a pick-me-up talk every week, others need more practice and rehearsing, while others get it quickly and just need to have the reins pulled in every now and then. Motivation needs to take into account these differences. Sales contests should be varied to provide all sellers with an opportunity to win, so perhaps there should be daily or weekly winners as well as an overall winner. Multiple winners also can occur when a team goal is reached and everyone who has hit their individual goals receives a special prize in addition to the team goal.
Understanding and maintaining the “line”: When managing a team that is not much younger than the manager, or even more difficult, when the manager actually manages individuals who were at one time his/her peers, it is often difficult to maintain the line of distinction between manager and seller. No one wants a sales manager with an ultra-authoritative persona. It also is difficult to manage a team that sees the manager as one of the guys. The mistake of the rookie sales manager is often made after work, possibly in the guise of having fun and building morale, or perhaps in a setting to reward the sales team. My experience shows me it’s usually affected by the presence of alcohol — perhaps beer and pizza. There is nothing wrong with such an activity as long as the rookie sales manager can remember the following:
■ Invite everyone out and pick up the tab for the pizza and beer/wine (avoid anything more intoxicating).
■ Take your time with your first beer or glass of wine and leave when you have finished it.
■ If you stay for a second drink, you will hear something you probably shouldn’t hear.
■ If you stay for a third drink, you will probably say something you shouldn’t have said, and in either case you have now blurred the line.
Celebrate success: In sales, where there are more failures than successes, it is important to celebrate success and use those celebrations to build confidence, improve morale and reward performance. This has been done for years by simply ringing a sales bell, but that, too, has been elevated by innovations such as Hoopla TV, which acknowledges every sale by playing the “walk-up song” of the person who made the sale and broadcasting that success throughout the organization via a series of television monitors located throughout the building. Continue to celebrate every sale and every sales milestone in ways that are meaningful to the sales team.
Managing out: The most difficult challenge that faces any manager (rookie or veteran) is knowing when and how to terminate an employee. Sales boards and the aforementioned Hoopla TV and other variations publicize who is performing and who is not in terms of their sales goals on a daily basis. This means that not only is the manager aware of who is successful and who is not, but the sales force itself is clearly aware as well. In general, the rookie sales manager should discuss with a supervisor and human resources the procedures that must be in place before an actual termination. Counseling, additional help, modeling, practice and identifying career alternatives are all appropriate ways to assist those team members performing below expectations.
One final suggestion, and it is perhaps the most important one: Don’t be afraid to make a mistake, and when you do, own it and learn from it. Don’t hide the mistake. Bring it to your manager and discuss it together. Make the determination as to how to best address it.
Not everyone is going to have success like Kerr did in his rookie season coaching the Golden State Warriors. Mistakes are inevitable. The key is learning from the mistake and not repeating it.
Bill Sutton (wsutton1@usf.edu) is the founding director of the sport and entertainment business management MBA at the University of South Florida and principal of Bill Sutton & Associates. Follow him on Twitter @Sutton_ImpactU.
