The First Thing A Sales Manager Must Know: ManagementPain Points of Sales Management and How to Overcome Them

Nikolaus Kimla

Email: n.kimla@pipelinersales.comWebsite: www.pipelinersales.com

CEO at Pipelinersales Inc.

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It might seem self-contradictory that the first thing a sales manager needs to know is management. But it's true. Most of the time, a sales manager becomes a sales manager by being promoted from sales rep.

Unfortunately, being good at selling will never make a person a great sales manager, any more than, on a ship, a great steward would make a great captain.

Management is ManagementDespite the thousands of books on “Sales Management,” management is management. There is good management, and bad management. Either way, it applies equally to all endeavors, including sales.

Here at Pipeliner, we follow a form of management that comes out of a school of thought proven over 150 years. Its principles apply to sales, as they apply to every other form of business.

The 5 Parts of ManagementThe biggest misconception about management is that it simply consists of telling others what to do. According to renowned management consultant and economist Fredmund Malik, whose management approach we closely follow at Pipeliner, there

are 5 basic aspects or parts to management.

Learn to manage yourself

If you can't manage yourself, you can't possibly manage others. This includes properly organizing your job and your time. It includes self-discipline.

The 5 Parts of Management

Managing Your Boss

We all have someone above us that we have to learn to manage. Managing your boss means understanding what is important to the boss, and consistently and competently delivering that.

The 5 Parts of Management

Others Inside and Outside

Then come the others in the company with whom you work—other people in other departments on whom you depend, and others outside the company such as customers, partners or vendors.

The 5 Parts of Management

Management of your peers

You must peacefully coexist with your peers, while also maintaining as productive a relationship as possible.

The 5 Parts of Management

And Lastly…Subordinates

Only after you have learned to manage the first 4 can you manage this last one—which everyone always thinks is the first and only one—subordinates. If you have managed the first 4, this last one is easy.

The 5 Parts of Management

The 6 Basic Management PrinciplesAlso according to Malik, management consists of 6 primary principles, explored at much greater length in my ebook Theory Made Real: Pipeliner CRM Puts Principles

Into Practice.

The 6 Basic Management Principles

Focus on results. Sales are either being made,or not!

Contribution to the whole. A sales manager must be able to see how each rep contributes to the overall sales goal, and also how the sales team contributes to the greater company.

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The 6 Basic Management Principles

Concentration on a few things. In order to cut through noise and distraction, any manager must decide which are the most important factors, and focus strictly on them.

Utilizing strengths. It is far easier and more rewarding to bolster the strengths of people, rather than trying to strengthen their weaknesses.

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The 6 Basic Management Principles

Positive thinking. A sales manager will never survive without thinking positive. Salespeople, in order to succeed, must constantly think positive themselves. Their leader must also.

Trust. Stated last, this one is actually the most important. You must trust in those you lead, so that they will trust you. You must make yourself worthy of their trust, so that when times are hard they will come through for you.

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The 6 Basic Management Principles

When you follow these principles, you already havethe strong foundation to lead your team.Then the technology frees you up and gives youthe insight to become what you should always be:the real mentor and coach of your team.

So as you can see, management is a profession unto itself. It absolutely needs to be learned by a sales manager, for that sales manager to be successful.

The good news:It is there to be learned, and it can be learned!

NEXT SLIDESHARE IN THIS SERIES: "A Sales Manager Walks

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