Strong Sales Managers are important to the success of a selling organization. There are many tactics used to build and test the strength of Sales Managers within organizations. However, are there skills and competencies that can’t be taught or learned?
According to our?Developing Sales Manager research initiative, there are 4 important developmental area that organizations find difficult to effectively train and develop with sales managers. These lagging competencies include: general business acumen, delivering effective coaching, leadership skills and evaluating salesperson performance. Individuals who lack these skills probably will have a challenging time adapting to their sales manager role.
In our recent webinar, we posed the question to panelists: What structured programs help in developing Sales Manager bench strength??
Lindsey Nelson, VP of Sales Productivity at CareerBuilder, immediately cited mentoring. She noted that the mentor should be excited and engaged to have a positive effect on the mentee. She also specified the importance of aligning quality mentors with new mentees so the new sales manager doesn’t walk away with bad habits.
Another issue facing sales organizations is how to address succession planning to add or replace sales managers. Research shows that many companies do not have a clear path for individuals interested in being promoted or mentoring programs.
Kurt Theriault, Principal & Owner of Business Efficacy, said, The jump from Sales Person to Sales Manager is extremely difficult. A big assumption is that because people know how to sell, they know how to teach other people to sale.?
For more on this topic, check out our recent webinar, Building Sales Manager Bench Strength, with Lindsey Nelson, VP of Sales Productivity at CareerBuilder, Dan Strunk, Managing Director at DePaul University, and Kurt Theriault, Principal & Owner of Business Efficacy.
