From Sales Executive to Sales Manager
Have you ever considered a Career or Job as a Sales Manager ? Whatever the industry or sector, basic sales skills and Job requirements are the same.
Speaking from experience I would suggest you give it considerable thought. Mangaging a business, customers, service levels are the easy bit but managing a team of people can be something quite different.
I started my career as a Sales Executive, responsible for a 60 mile radius territory and about 200 trading customers. I worked alongside a keen, enthusiastic and relible indoor sales person, we made a good team and were reasonably successful in a fast moving, competative logistics environment.
I noted that the existing Sales Manager was struggling a bit, a good sales person and business closer but not a people person. Our weekly sales meetings were not structured, not prepared, not motivating and frankly quite boring. I said nothing of course and just continued doing the best that I could in my own role.
It was not long before he came unstuck. His lack of communication, encouragement, personal development of staff and general management resulted in him leaving the office on a friday night and not returning on the monday morning.
The rest of us plodded on for a couple of weeks under a regional manager sent from head office who did not want the role so eventually I was encouraged to go for promotion. I was apprehensive but thought I would give the opportunity a go. It was a big mistake !
The colleagues I had worked with for 2 years suddenly were not my friends and did’nt involve me in any office banter. I sat in my little office preparing budgets, review performances, weekly sales targets and monitoring call levels and performances from the rest of the team. I became responsible for just the major clients.
None of this was stressful but managing the sales staff was. On a daily basis I was dealing with the ringing in of the sick, personal problems, team arguements, staff dissatifaction of everything, the ones who took the extra long lunch and arrived late for work, the ones who constantly sat texting their friends or surfing the internet. Managing the business soon became managing the staff members issues alone and I began to hate it. I was no longer one of the team but the one they all began to hate.
My advice would be, if you enjoy the buzz of the sales process, enjoy providing a great service to your customers and the general role of a sales executive then stick with it. Gaining a promotion is not important to everyone. I was happy doing my thing and doing it well
