Words: Troy Harrison
One of the biggest challenges that sales managers have is discerning whether they are investing their time with reps or just spending it.
To “invest” means “to expend money with the expectation of realising a profit or material result.” “Spend” means “to pay out money in buying or hiring goods or services.” Note the difference? When you “spend”, it’s without expectation of achieving a profit.
In more than 25 years of managing salespeople and coaching other sales
managers, I can state this as a fact – far too many sales managers spend their time when they think they are investing their time.
Most sales managers spend their time working with the bottom tier of their sales forces. They work to raise low performers up to a level of basic competence so that they won’t have to fire them.
“But, Troy,” you say, “that’s natural, isn’t it? My top guys don’t need my time, and some of them may not want me messing with them. Therefore, I can improve the skills of my bottom tier salespeople, and impact my sales force’s performance that way.”
This is where we turn back to the old question of spending your time versus investing your time.
A case of investing your time versus spending it
After a work session with a rep, do the rep’s skills improve? This would
seem obvious, but it’s not to many sales managers.
I recently had the opportunity to make joint calls with a client’s salesperson. I had previously made joint calls with him – three years ago. Back then, he was teetering on the edge of being released. Since then, the manager has made a project out of him, dedicating at least half a day per week to working with him.
What’s the result? Well, nothing that I could see. His skills haven’t improved to any measurable level. He’s still not asking the right questions, fumbling in his ability to present to a customer, missing
buying signs and probably burning sales left and right.
It’s true the salesperson’s numbers have improved. The reason is the sales manager is going on enough important calls that more deals are getting closed. The reason those deals are closing is that the sales
manager is basically closing them himself – taking over the sales calls and making the deals happen.
If you do this, you might think that you’re doing your job and benefiting the company, but you’re not. You’re only benefiting yourself and your
rep, and then only in the short term.
Here’s the moral of this story: If your salesperson’s skills are improving when you work with them, you are investing your time. If not, you are spending your time. If you’re staying silent during joint calls and using them as a coaching opportunity, you’re investing your time. If you are
selling, you’re spending your time.
Evaluating the situation
If you took your hands off the salesperson, what would happen?
Back at the office, I began probing the salesperson’s sales and activity records for the past three years and cross-referencing them with the sales manager’s vacation and travel schedule.
When the sales manager wasn’t there, the salesperson’s activity levels dropped nearly in half – and the salesperson rarely sold any deals when the manager wasn’t there.
The manager was simply doing much of the work for the salesperson.
If, after some time under your tutelage, the salesperson can function
independently, you have invested your time. If not, you have spent it.
In the review meeting with the company owner and the sales manager, I gave my analysis. I was asked by the sales manager if the salesperson should be put on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), otherwise known as probation.
Turning to the business owner, I said, “That’s up to you, but the sales manager should definitely be put on a PIP.”
Both jaws dropped.
“Here’s why. You (the sales manager) have told me that you’ve spent at least four hours per week over the past three years with this person. That’s over 600 hours of your time. You haven’t improved the rep’s skills or performance, and you did this to save yourself from having to fire him, because you liked him so much. That’s an incredible misuse of time and
resources, and you have seven other reps who do not receive that level of attention. You should be put on a PIP, and then how you handle improving your own performance is up to you.”
Harsh? Maybe. The truth was the sales manager was emotionally involved to a high degree and had abdicated his management duties in favour of basically being a part-time sales rep. Sales managers do this every day without realising it. If that’s you, stop.
But do your top reps just want to be left alone, and not be messed with? Maybe that’s true in some cases. More often, time spent with a top rep builds relationships and produces dividends. If you get out and work with your top people, you may find coachable moments – and if you improve a top rep once, they will always want to work with you.
Your top reps are the ones who always want to improve, always want to sell more and produce more. If you can help them do it, that’s a good investment of your time.
To truly start investing your time rather than spending it, try this one simple guideline: Apportion your coaching (and make it coaching, not selling) time evenly to all your mature reps, top to bottom.
New reps take more time, as they should – but if you divide yourself equally among your mature reps, you’ll find out that your time is probably better invested with your top people.
Troy Harrison is the author of Sell Like You Mean It and The Pocket Sales Manager. He helps companies navigate the Elements
of Sales on their journey to success.
