Page 98 - The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million - PDFDrive.com

promoted sales managers.

New managers have an unrealistic perception of how much coaching they can
actually do with each of their team members. They need to learn quickly that
success as a manager is about the efficiency of their coaching—their ability to
diagnose the issues, customize a coaching plan, and execute the coaching in a
time efficient manner.

“Susan, what is wrong?” I asked.

Almost out of breath, Susan responded, “Oh, Mark. There just aren't enough
hours in the day. I feel like I am being pulled in a million directions and before I
know it, it is 7 p.m. and the day is over. How do managers do it?”

I have an exercise I take new sales managers through at this stage of their
transition. Here was the perfect opportunity.

“Susan, do me a favor,” I responded. “Write on the whiteboard all of the
professional tasks you do each week. Think of the different categories of work.
You coach your reps. You attend management meetings and hold team meetings.
You are involved with some deals. You check email. Write them all down. Now
write the approximate hours per week you spend on each task. What is the total
number of hours per week?”

“102!” Susan exclaimed.

“No wonder you are going crazy,” I pointed out. “You need to cut back, but
where? There are a few team meetings each week that need to happen.
Obviously, email cannot pile up so that time is necessary. It seems like you have
the right amount of time allocated to overseeing your team's opportunities. In
reality, the only thing that we can touch is the time you spend coaching each
salesperson. You listed six hours per week per person, but with an eight-person
team, you simply can't spare that much time. You need to find a way to be more
efficient with your coaching.”

“New sales managers need to appreciate how in-demand their coaching
time is, and must be efficient with their coaching execution.”

The Manager as a Glorified Salesperson

Almost all sales managers were individual contributors at some point in their
careers. On the front line, they controlled their own destiny. If they got into