Once upon a time there was a new sales manager who used the power of repetition to keep her sane, using a quiet, running mantra: “I love my job, I love my job…”
My first days as a sales manager were tough. Well let’s be clear, the first year was tough. If you have read my prior blogs, there are additional references for that. When a very dear VP told me that the first six months as a new manager felt like a few years, he lied. He later came clean and told me it felt more like five years and it did. For reasons not entirely the fault of the team, I inherited an account base that was hemorrhaging—and several of them were top assets for the company. I was younger than many of my employees, my sales team wasn’t selling, our customers perceived little to no value in our services and I had one “legend in his own mind” who didn’t want to work for a woman—who proved to be a difficult employee and not because I am a woman. Did I mention it was my first management gig, so I had to earn the team’s trust and respect?
So where do you start with all of this? Therapy? Well I gotta say, the wine rack in my home filled up. Oh and lots of chocolate. Chocolate was actually a better soothing mechanism than the wine. When you use the words “soothing mechanism” you know it was not an easy year. When you come into a situation and you need to improve performance and results, you’re not going to be liked. In fact, for anyone considering management, just know this: you’re not there to be liked. And to some degree, I wasn’t and I’m a likable girl (just ask my Mom).
As a starting point, I talked with the team, one on one. I met with the customers. I talked with my peers. I looked at the results. I looked at the historical data. I looked at the corresponding sales activity. I looked at the sales support team and talked with them as well. I asked questions. I listened. Etc, etc. I silently screamed every day. And in the first 30 days or so, I found the key obstacles to sales effectiveness and growth.
In a nutshell (and in no particular order here), I needed to :
- Build the pipeline by redirecting the sales efforts and strategy
- Address performance issues, coach, develop
- Invite, engage and revitalize the sales support team
- Adjust the expectations of the customer while finding ways to overcome commoditization
- Actively support the sales process and establish executive level relationships in our accounts
Redirecting the sales team and building a sales strategy required dialogue. In reality, I was a new manager in an industry I was just learning and I didn’t have all the answers, but I felt the team did.
My launching point was to bring the team together for a meeting. As we discussed sales opportunities, “the legend” actually said “we have nothing more to sell”. As I have mentioned before, it’s a great time in a manager’s career when your SALES team tells you they have nothing more to sell. I wanted to move into the fetal position under the conference table, particularly since I didn’t have a plausible excuse for a jury and well, there were witnesses. Sooooo, there were lots and LOTS of silent screams in that brief moment between hearing his words and responding.
Interestingly, it was a key moment for our team—all because of that single, less-than-stellar comment. Perhaps I actually owe “the legend” a debt of gratitude, you say? Uhhhh…no. He was a still a difficult employee…I needed this team to see opportunity where they saw none, I needed them to rethink their role in their accounts and own it, I needed them to get excited about the future, I needed them to elevate their game. And to that question, I simply asked “what would you sell, if you could”? You might think, ok, this is where the angels flew down, the orchestra started up and a choir began to sing. Nope. Because someone else said “we have nothing else to sell, because there are too many obstacles.” In essence, there was a gaping hole between what the customer needed and what we could offer.
So rephrasing my question, I asked: “If you didn’t have the obstacles, what would you sell?” “Nothing. Becauuussee we can’t remove those obbbbstacles…” was the response. Kinda stated like I either had a hearing loss or failed to understand them. I could have called for a break, or changed the topic but I persisted. I simply told them that my job was to remove the obstacles, so I again asked “what business you would go after if you could”? And that’s when the angels descended, the orchestra started up and the choir sang. An AHA! moment and a small glimmer of hope and motivation appeared. A moment that feels good for a manager.
And the story goes, that we found the key sales opportunities, we rallied the organization around removing sales obstacles (lots of work, but we were able to minimize our risk or work around it) and we sold new business and we grew. The team performance was still rocky but improved over time, the customers adjusted to representatives who now sold, not managed their accounts, we added value and we all lived happily ever after. Well, not quite. I still had to work with “the legend”, who continued to be a royal pain but in the end, he moved to another team and THEN we all lived happily ever after!
The point of the story is that I never dropped “the legend” on the side of the road, with no food or a means back to civilization. For those of you with difficult employees, that might just be our greatest accomplishment, right? Just kidding…!???
When all was said and done, I was lucky enough to have a team who was candid, perhaps not eloquent on that day, but nonetheless candid. I was lucky enough to find the motivators in most of the team and lucky enough to have a boss who fully and actively supported me. I was lucky enough to have a VP who openly acknowledged that the first year is tough—and tougher when you inherit a difficult situation. I was lucky enough to have a team who helped me learn, grow and get better. And for that, I will always be grateful.
