Dave Brock poses a very interesting question on his blog “Do Great Sales People Make Good Sales Managers?” In this excellent post, Dave identifies and talks about some of the core leadership skills that are required in making the transition to sales management.

There is no easy answer to this question, or as Dave points out “Great sales people are sometimes the worst sales managers. Likewise, some mediocre sales people end up being stellar sales managers”

I think Dave would agree with me however, that the reality is that most sales managers were at first, top sales people.

Companies continue to consider:

Achievement in sales to be the most deserving route into sales management and thus by default;It has in turn become the natural route.

Perhaps, this is not such a good thing. On reading Dave’s post, I found myself asking.

Should sales management opportunities continue to be tied so closely with sales performance?

Do we run the risk of devaluing the role of sales manager to the point that it is merely another form of bonus?

Will top sales performance always translate into effective sales management?

I don’t believe it always will. Many of the skills that served us well as salespeople are actually counter-productive when applied to sales management. I would suggest that sales management actually requires an altogether different skill set than what is required to be a top sales person.

If you also factor that top salespeople come from a background of continued over-performance, where as managers they will spend the majority of their time dealing with issues related to under-performance. This too must make for a difficult adjustment.

It this why then when faced with challenges, newly promoted sales managers often revert to what worked when they were selling. And if this approach fails, they may continue to persevere, seeing no reason to change and choosing instead to blame the skill levels or activities of the team.

I am not saying here, that top sales people don’t make good sales managers, of course they do. Rather that, we have to be very careful to promote based on management potential and skills rather than solely on the person’s track record in sales.

Companies can be guilty of devaluing the sales manager’s role by using it to reward sales performance rather than hiring the best person for the job. Of course there may be risks, such as upsetting an expectant big hitter, even to the point where he or she may leave to join the competition. That being said, the role of manager should be treated with enough significance, that these are risks worth taking?

Published by Niall Devitt, Btb Business Training