Bad Sales Managers 1

Here is a little rant I wrote after talking to one of my friends about his awful Sales Manager...

I must start by saying that I currently have one of the best sales managers out there. Despite having 30 years of experience in our industry he is still going with the flow and keeps his methods (almost) current. Luckily for me, my manager does NONE of this stuff...

If you are a sales manager, here is some advice from the people on your team that are too chicken to tell you this stuff themselves.

Stop asking for updates on account activity every time you see me. (By this I mean every time you walk through the bull pen pretending like you are there for some reason other than to hover.) I know that closing the deal is important to you and I am not so forgetful that I'm not going to tell you if I have an update. My cell phone still works, my e-mail still works and so does my mouth, if I have "good news" you will be the second to know after me.Stop deciding that my time isn't as valuable as yours.

Don't schedule meetings, trainings, one on ones, conference calls, webinars, on line training classes, "BLITZES", the day before or worse the day OF and expect me to be anything other than annoyed with your lack of consideration of my time. It is very likely that I already have some revenue generating activity planned during that time, so stop being so rude. If you want to have a meeting, be a professional and ask when I am available.

While I am on that subject... Stop having "Blitzes" period. They are a waste of my time. I HATE them and so does everyone else on the team. Yes, EVERYONE. Even that kiss ass who always manages to magically meet whatever absurd "goal" you set for your impromptu blitz. Since you are always locked in your office during these time wasters, you don't know that the kiss ass never makes a SINGLE call unless you are hovering. She just magically sets three net new appointments every single time without calling a soul. Let's look at her revenue numbers again shall we? Maybe she is kissing your ass because she isn't selling anything to those magic prospects created from your "blitz" HMMMM

Stop shoving month/quarter end down my customers throat. The customer doesn't care that we don't get paid on the deal unless it delivers by the end of the month. Stop making me stalk my customer ten times a day the last two or three days of the month. Giving them a discount to get them to buy during YOUR time frame just lowers my commission. News Flash! People buy when they are ready! Forcing me to lower the price to try to get them to take delivery early just means I have to lower my price and my earnings while the customer still buys when they are READY...

Stop wasting my time with lame Monday morning sales meetings. If you don't have anything useful to share each week, break the habit.

Stop asking me to make down the street cold calls. There are VERY FEW industries left where this is a viable marketing tactic. It is rude and tacky. The only deals people ever get from traditional cold calling are so lean they aren't worth it for anyone anyway. The very thought of walking into a company in my base and interrupting the receptionist to try to give me information makes me shudder. Here's another news flash... There's this thing called a computer and this place on there called "Google" I can find out more information about a company in five minutes using current technology and methods than you will ever find "pounding the pavement." JUST STOP

Try to remember that I don't get paid to do anything other than sell. There are no bonuses for the number of "dials" I make, etc. Your salary is probably more than double mine, so here's an idea. YOU have all of the meetings and fill out all of the useless tracking forms. I will be busy trying to SELL something.

Please attempt to stay current in your understanding of our company, it's policies, and procedures. No one respects a "Manager" that doesn't have a clue about what the sales people actually do. If you can't help with that stuff you are useless. And just like "car phones" of the past, you may find yourself quickly replaced by an iPhone.

If you are a sales manager, or know someone who is. Do everyone a favor and pass this message on. I think we can start a movement!

Lovin Sales,Trish