do you think your good sales person might make a good sales manager?

Published: Thu, 03/21/19

3 Reasons Why Good Sales People Don’t Make Good Sales Managers

By Dave Kahle

We’ve all done it. Promoted a good sales person, often our best, to sales manager. My files are full of cases where the results were below expectations for everyone involved. Principals and CSOs are often disappointed in the lack of results. And the sales managers are confused and frustrated with the lack of achievement from their teams.

Here's a variation that usually produces even more angst. A good sales person, without any real management experience, is hired from outside the company. They fill a sales manager position. When these decisions go bad, there are hurt feelings, negative attitudes, and difficult situations. The results can be ugly.

Not that this is always the case. Many CSOs and executives rose through the ranks in just this fashion, contributing exceptionally at every stage. But, these cases are generally the exception, not the rule.

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The Rule: Good Sales People Don't Make Good Sales Managers

Why?

1. Expectations

Consider the unique blend of strengths and aptitudes that often mark the character of an exceptional sales person. Exceptional sales people often have very high standards for themselves and everyone around them. They are highly focused on the customer, often to the determent of their relationships with their colleagues. It’s not unusual for your star sales person to irritate and frustrate the people in the operational side of the business, with a brusque and demanding attitude. After all, they think, I’m extending myself to take care of my customers, why shouldn’t I expect everyone else to do so also?

When they become sales managers, they expect all of their sales people to be just as hard driving and achievement oriented as they were. Unfortunately the reality is that most of their sales people don’t share the same degree of drive and perfectionism that they had. If they did, they would have been promoted to sales manager.

That means that the sales manager often is frustrated with the performance and attitudes of his charges, and confused as to how to change them.

2. Independence

An exceptional sales person is often an independent character. They thrive in a climate where they can make their own decisions, determine their own call patterns, and spend time by themselves.

Alas, they lose almost all of that when...[Read The Rest Of This Article Online]

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