This document provides 14 lessons that seasoned sales managers have learned the hard way to help new sales managers. Some of the key lessons include: firing underperforming salespeople can relieve both parties; telling salespeople what to do is not leadership and listening is important; sharing control and letting salespeople own their ideas leads to more success; and salespeople will bring personal problems to work that can interfere with performance so it's important to distinguish personal from sales issues.

1. Fourteen
Sales
Lessons
Learned
The
Hard
Way

2. Learning from other's mistakes and failures is a
good way to speed up sales management success.

3. When I asked seasoned sales managers what they
learned the hard way, and I got these fourteen lessons.

4. New sales managers can learn to make their job
a lot easier using these fourteen lessons.

6. 2. Firing an underperforming salesperson is usually a relief for both
parties involved. Failing is not fun but it can be the wake-up call
needed to re-energize a sales career or choose another career.

7. 3. Salespeople always rebel against "the boss." Telling people what to do is not
leadership. Asking questions and listening resolves many sales management dilemmas.

8. 4. Share control and let salespeople buy in. Sales representatives who run
passionately with their own ideas they usually are more successful.

9. 5. Salespeople will have problems that paralyze them, and a sales manager will
hear about them. Sales people bring their personal problems to work and
eventually these can interfere with their performance. As a manager it is
important to know the difference between counseling someone on a personal
problem and coaching them with a sales problem.

10. 6. It is helpful to become conscious of leadership style early. Being a leader means
knowing when to be autocratic, democratic, or a delegator. There is a spectrum of
leadership styles and a sales manager will choose all three options at some point.

11. 7. Salespeople want to please their sales manager and will often tell them whatever
they think they want to hear. A manager's reaction to lost sales and mistakes
determine how open and honest sales representatives will be with their boss.

12. 8. Salespeople may not want to hear what their prospects
really think so they do not ask.

15. 11. A sales manager can be an umpire or a referee. Disciplining
salespeople is a duty of the sales manager's job. The upside of correcting
someone is that it can save them from failure.

16. 12. Sales managers are in the belief business. First, find out what
salespeople believe. In order to influence the salesperson's beliefs in a
productive way take the time to ask questions and listen to what they
believe about their accounts and level of success.

17. 13. The top producer may not be the top performer and customers buy in spite of
salespeople. The sales manager's responsibility is to monitor salespeople's meetings,
calls, and make certain their performance is based on standards, not on luck.

18. 14. Salespeople often do their best selling in the office. This happens when
salespeople think the prices are too high for the products they are trying to sell so
they try and convince management to lower prices to make their jobs easier in the
field with customers. The sales manager needs to instill in their salespeople a sense
of pride and appreciation for the product or service they are trying to sell.

19. Happy
selling