One of the recurring issues that I have dealt with over the years is with sales representatives who want to move up, get promoted, or advance somehow. For many reps, this is an entirely natural desire and something most managers want to see in their reps, but it is still challenging for sales managers to handle.
Frequently, the reps who want to move up are the ones that have demonstrated that they can produce– so the manager will have a hole to fill and sales results for the manager’s region may suffer once the rep moves on. On the other hand, if the manager feels that the rep is not ready, the rep must be properly coached so that the morale of the rep doesn’t suffer and lead to diminished results.
So, how does a manager determine when to move a rep up to the next level? Here are 3 questions to ask yourself:
1. Does the representative have the temperament for the next position? Most sales people do NOT make good sales managers. That is simply a fact, and often the reason is that the rep does not have a leadership and management personality. Sure, skills can be taught, but just like we cannot teach drive and desire and tenacity in a rep, we cannot teach diplomacy, adaptability and discretion in a manager.
2. Is the representative truly ready to take the next step? Or, are they just eager to move up for their career? I was that rep over 20 years ago who wanted to move up because that meant success to me. But, I wasn’t ready. And when I did not get the promotion I thought was mine a left a very good organization. Obviously, I was not properly coached! My point is that a good sales manager should know when their reps are ready to move up and hopefully, have been working with them along the way to get them ready.
3. Do you have a plan for filling the gap? You will probably have a gap in sales whether you move the rep up or not, so you must always be looking for replacements even while you are teaching and training your reps. You need to be able to coach your rep should they not be ready yet, and help them to continue to sell effectively until they are ready.
Simple and to the point, but there is a lot here to do. Let me know if you agree or disagree. Or, if you want to discuss it in more detail send me a note and we can set up a time to talk.
To better selling,
Bill Cook
