Sales Managers Need To Be Adept Jugglers And Trained Diplomats
Classically these are the viewpoints of:
• Yourself
• The organisation
• Your department (or division, section)
• Your people
• External contacts (e.g. customers or suppliers)
Sometimes (regularly?) conflicts arise: something is right for the department and the people, but not for either the organisation or you. On occasions you will find yourself disagreeing with a company policy but having to support it even though you know that your people see it as wrong and personally inconvenient.
How you handle this balancing act is important, and it may be necessary to explain the reasons behind your actions. It is an area for some consistency.
You need to keep certain factors in mind when balancing the interests of different parties:
First and foremost your responsibility is to the organisation and to achieving the targets set for you
You can only do this with the support of your people, so in the long-term you must carry them with you (some disagreement may be seen as inevitable)
You have a responsibility upwards and downwards within the organisation (perhaps one answer is to support a policy, insisting that your people comply, while communicating upwards in an attempt to have it changed if it can be bettered)
You must never be seen as selfish, simply acting to make your own lot better (this will, rightly, always be resented)
You must sometimes be seen to fight your corner on behalf of your section and its people (this will be appreciated, more so if what you take issue with is a nonsense and, especially, if you win!)
Continually Seek To Demonstrate Your Skills At Balancing Different Interests:
As well as making clear your position in respect of the organisation and the other players you need to consider - and make clear - the relationship between you and your own staff. You must always be fair (but rarely democratic). People must see the realities involved. They must understand that there is a balance and that you cannot always be automatically on their side, right or wrong.
Finally - Make It Clear That You:
• See your success as tied in with and, indeed, dependent on them.
• See your role as essentially supportive (in all sorts of ways: guidance, counselling, development and motivation)
• Believe that by working together you can all succeed - not just by everyone doing their share of the work but by everyone contributing creatively (ideas may come from anywhere)
Copyright © 2007 Jonathan Farrington. All rights reserved
Related Tags: sales, sales management, sales leadership
Jonathan Farrington is the Managing Partner of The jfa Group thejfagroup.
His weekly blog giving dedicated sales professionals a voice is updated every Friday visit http://www.thejfblogit.co.uk
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