New Managers Want to Succeed! Are You Helping Them?
Congratulations you have been promoted, and you are now the sales manager! You have been a top performing rep, and you are wired to succeed. What if you are left to sink or swim because your organization is going to send you out into the field without any formal training? Unheard of? Read on.
Sales organizations tend to promote their top sales reps into sales manager jobs. This seems to be a natural progression for top performers. We all know that this promotion leads to the sales organization losing on two counts. One, companies lose not only a top performing sales rep but, they may also end up with a lousy sales manager.
The impact of having a bad sales manager in place can be devastating to the team. Top performers may end up leaving the company. Those of you who are in sales know that the number one reason people leave is that of the bad relationship the rep has with his direct manager. The impact of promoting a top performing sales rep into a sales management role can be disastrous for the sales team.
From a positive perspective, top performers are looking for challenge and growth opportunities. The opportunity to progress to the next level can be a great incentive for many sales reps. Senior sales leaders recognize the importance of developing strong sales managers. My Article, “Are You Leading Your Sales Team to Defeat?” discusses this topic.
Based on my experience as a sales management coach and trainer I have helped many new sales managers make this transition successfully. In late 2014, we launched The STAR Sales Managers Development Survey to understand the priorities of sales leaders in the area of sales manager development. One of my goals was to get an understanding how many sales organizations have processes in place and a means of measuring the support of new managers.
The findings of The STAR Sales Manager Development Report reveals some shocking insights about how sales 
organizations are doing a poor job of supporting the transition from sales rep to sales manager.
In the survey, we found that only 40% of sales organizations have formal training to support the transition from sales rep to sales manager. Regarding a formal process to evaluate this transition, only 31% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed that their organization has a formal process.
With all the risk associated with promoting your top sales rep to sales manager, we find it alarming that so many companies are doing little to support their new sales managers. Is this lack of support of new sales manager dramatically impacting sales performance?
In our report, we offer recommendations for sales leaders on how to begin to better support sales manager development. In our opinion, a strong sales manager is a great source of untapped competitive advantage and will have a positive impact on all sales initiatives, sales performance, and organizational results.
I challenge the majority of sales leaders whose organizations do not have formal training to support the development of new managers to look to outsource the process.
Click here to get your complimentary copy of the STAR Sales Manager Survey Report.
If you have any questions or comments on the survey feel free to contact me at:
Steven A. Rosen
President and Founder
STAR Results
(905) 737-4548
steven@starresults.com
www.starresults.com
