New Sales Manager Tips #1

As promised, I am going to share my first ever article published in Selling Power Magazine. (I think it was actually entitled Personal Selling Power Magazine in those days, around 1994.)

So here we go;

Being named sales manager to an existing sales team means that you must immediately be ready to lead in order to gain the trust and support of your team members. Listed below are nine concepts to accelerate that leadership process. (I listed three in this post today and will do the same tomorrow and the next.)

1. Know their names. Memorize the names of your team members in advance of your first day. Also learn names of all other staff members, because you will seem to fit in and consequently people will feel comfortable with you, which is the first step in gaining trust.

2. Have a flexible plan. Your team members will expect direction from you, even the experienced ones will appreciate knowing what your plans are.

3. Schedule regular sales meetings. Besides the usual information, allow time for recognition and education. "World's Records" permits each sales person to brag about a significant happening in his life, either business or personal. ("The baby slept through the night," or "I finally got the Smith account.") Also, have everyone tell what they learned in the past week. It allows each team member to help train because probably the others need to know that piece of information, too.

When you think about the above three tips, they are all about developing relationships quickly, so that the team members feel they can trust the new guy (or gal.)

Tune in for three more tips tomorrow.

Do you have any stories about sales managers you've had in your career?