Effective sales management can be the difference between a car dealership that thrives and a mediocre one that barely stays afloat. Yet, many of the best sales managers still mistake the description in their job title for something that is even more crucial to sales success - leadership. If anyone thinks for even one second that just because someone is given the job title of sales manager that they naturally become a leader, you need to think again.
Leadership may seem like a simple concept, but it is in fact so complicated that it perplexes many of us. After all, leadership is so much more than just endless positivity, pick me up speeches and a charming disposition, just as sales management is more than simply assigning tasks, overseeing those tasks and reviewing performance reports.
One of the best definitions of leadership, as applied to sales, comes from former president Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower described leadership specifically as “the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because HE wants to do it.” Another famous definition comes from Peter Drucker, considered by many to be the foremost authority of modern management. Drucker was quoted saying that “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes.”
Let’s tackle the first definition. Any sales manager worth his or her weight in water can simply use their authority to get their reps and underlings to perform their required tasks. I think we would all agree on that, but do we really want to lead a group of professional adults through the use of fear?
What that would do is create a sense of obligation, rather than ambition. Constantly asking reps to do things can create a culture of resentment. Additionally, it is unlikely that tasks performed in such a negative setting will be executed at a maximum level of quality. Therefore, true leadership must entail getting your followers to buy-in and fully commit. They must believe in you, respect you, and in the best cases they feel a desire to impress you.
On the second point, sales success is mainly a function of results - how much product did you sell? Was it more than predicted? Are your book of business, the company and its revenue growing? All your sales leadership means little to nothing if the results aren’t there. That’s exactly why the best sales managers and sales leaders are also numbers-driven, relying on the end results as evidence of their effectiveness. Running their organizations analytically and by the numbers allows them to make stronger decisions based on real data, not assumptions or instinct.
Sales Leadership requires more of a long-term vision, while sales management largely occurs on the front lines, or the down-in-the-trenches level, sales leadership is more about setting a higher-level, big-picture vision and direction. Sales leadership is about being strategic as you lead your organization and comes about as a result of the sales leader setting their vision into motion while defining the culture of the sales organization. After all, they do author the sales plans, define, implement and communicate sales processes and sales effectiveness drivers, and author the sales playbook that communicates vision, strategy, processes and tactics.
Lastly, sales leaders must empower their sales managers and sales reps in order for them to succeed. Many times the GM - considered the upper tier of sales leadership in most organizations will often step on the toes of their sales managers, preventing them from properly executing tactics. As the great Ronald Reagan once said, “Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.”
Sales management is more about day-to-day execution and coaching teams to sell more effectively than actually leading the team. Sales leadership must be the one who extracts full buy-in and commitment from all members of the sales team below him or her, to the point where everyone sincerely wants to follow this leader and they have the utmost confidence in his or her vision.
Sales leadership is very critical to both the short term and long term success of your business. Without great sales leaders, businesses would suffer or even fail. The greatest thing a true leader can do is to produce more leaders. While the sales managers are not as powerful, or as important to the overall success of your business, according to the experts, developing your sales managers into great sales leaders should be your ultimate goal.
