Motivator Minute: Skills Don’t Always Transfer from Selling to Managing

Sean Kelley : nWhen a top sales consultant becomes a manager, there’s an assumption that they’re going to take the team to another level because of how proficient they were in their sales role. What interests me most about this transition and the barriers that come with it? Are that some of the skills you would think transfer over from employee to manager just don’t? One good example of this is how a top sales producer will handle a customer who says no, when the customer wants to think about it, the top sales producer stays respectful, objective, helpful and even curious. And they know by behaving in this way, they will find out what the real objection is and overcome it. So they can make the sale. Yet from that same top sales producer when they become a manager. And an employee doesn’t know what they’re supposed to do or won’t do what they’re supposed to do. Instead of being respectful objective, helpful and curious. They often become abrasive, presumptuous and confrontational or sometimes just quiet and passive aggressive. And it goes from I don’t understand you say you love the product? What’s getting in the way of you taking delivery now to why aren’t you doing what you’re supposed to do? Can you imagine if you tried to close deals with that same approach? As a manager, we need to treat employees with the same respect we treat our clients. Let go of your emotion and agenda, care for the team member and seek to understand the root cause of the behaviors. Only then, can you find out the real issue and coach the employee around itn