It is a great job, and someone has got to do it!  Sales management is one of the best and most important jobs in any organization.  How do you land this important position?  What tools is your employer looking for?  What do you have to do to stand out?

This job, which is the logical ‘next step’ is sought after by those that realize that there is more to a career than money, although the job pays well.  This job is an important ‘gateway’ to the management ranks in your organization.  Knowing the customer as well as you do gives a leg up to sales managers when other jobs open up in an organization if they perform well.

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The role of sales manager was one of the most rewarding positions I ever worked.  To be able to bring fresh new sales talent into an organization was always exciting.  To make the moves to mold an existing sales unit into a conglomeration of individuals who reached and exceed sales goals with regularity was exciting as well.

The patience and determination that job required was amazing, while at the same time, it required one to quickly see thought the mud while pressing for accountability from sales the professionals.

It is a fact that sales managers, if they are solid in all aspects of management, make good managers in total.  They understand the customer better that others as well as the process of business development.

Even more important is the reality that the Black sales professional, even when moderately successful in sales, should consider a pitch for that important sales management job.  We will touch on that in this post.

Being prepared, and having the tools is important.  Let’s discuss some of the ways that you can be prepared for the opportunity.

The Most Important Tools for Sales Management

There are requisite skills for every job out there, and that is true for the job of sales manager as well.  Most sales managers are given a first assignment in a field unit, then increasing responsibility as District Sales Managers, Regional Sales Managers, and Vice Presidents of Sales.

Someone with responsibility for an operation, such as a General Manager, will want in their employ someone who does not resort to excuses or finger pointing at other units.  They need someone who understands the sales process.  I listed some of the skills and attributes that individuals responsible for operations look for when they seek a leader for a sales unit:

• Leadership
• Coach and Trainer
• Visionary
• Team Builder
• Motivator

Now, couple these with the fact that you also want these attributes in the leader of your sales unit:

• Intelligence
• Responsibility and Integrity
• Mental Toughness
• Accountability

If you can get these items, in various amounts, even with need for improvement, you can be an effective manager.

Do you have these skills?  If you have them, have you been able to demonstrate them? These are important questions as this is where you can make a difference.

Let’s Take A Closer Look

Leadership - This most important attribute can be demonstrated by your accepting responsibility in meetings, projects, breakout groups, and other assignments.  Don’t be in the “everyone else took a step back” situation.  Step to the front and claim the role as a leader.

Coach and Trainer – This is an important role for a sales manager, so to the degree that you can demonstrate it, you will show initiative and skill.  Best suggestion; mentor other sales professionals in your organization.  Nothing works better than another professional saying that you helped with his or her career.  You also learn in the process.

Visionary – This is an attribute more than a skill, yet totally necessary in the sales management realm.  I speak of it in Black Sales Journal, March 7, 2010, Be The Consummate Professional. It is what happens when you know what you are doing well as a professional, and knowing your organization, and are able to determine ways processes or products can be done better.  It is foreseeing the change before it is necessary.

Team Builder – This one you can do, and are probably doing already.  Now, remember why it is important … Sales professionals are used to being mavericks.  They are used to a “zero sum” game, “I win, or you win, we both don’t win.”  The ranks of sales is not stocked with team builders, you can stand out from those that are faking it.

Motivator – It might be hard to prove your level of skill on this one.  You can show energy, enthusiasm, as well as drive in interacting with your manager and others.  They must see you as being able to provide an atmosphere of motivation that will benefit others.

Intelligence – This one is one that cannot be faked.  You need to have the basic intelligence to run the business of distributing the company’s product.  They will not give you an aptitude test, yet they will look at everything you have done lately, and how you handled it.  Do you understand business functions, and can you think “on the fly?”

Responsibility and Integrity – I put these two together for a reason. These, as is intelligence, are reasons that professionals don’t get into sales management.  If you are whiney, and complaining, even when you are correct, you will not get there.  If you “fudge” on expense reports, and the only reason that actions are not taken are that they cannot prove you did, you will not get there.  Show responsibility and always exude integrity, and you will be looked on favorably.

Mental Toughness and Balance – You cannot be a sales manager if you don’t exude mental toughness.  You cannot be down one day and up the next.  It does not work that way when you are responsible for others.  Know that the “sun will come up tomorrow” in everything you do.  Know the law of large numbers and be able to teach it to others.

Accountability – Be accountable, and be able to expect it from others.  Avoid excuses, and always know your role, your goals, and everyone else’s.  Accountability is the rule in management, and even more in sales management.

How You Can Get Prepared?

If you are Black, you recognize that Blacks are underrepresented in sales.   It suffices to say that they are well underrepresented in sales management.  We, frankly have woeful numbers in the sales management ranks.

The way to have more Black sales managers is to perform well and formulate and implement strategies that make you successful.  Black Sales Journal can help you in that regard.   Perform well as sales professional, and strategize as to the best time to make the move to management.  The positions come up when managers retire, get promotions, or are terminated.

That means you need to draw up ‘your own’ succession plan for your organization.  How long does your managers, or his or her peers have to work before promotion, retirement, or termination?  Who is your competition, and what do they have as their attributes as compared you?  Show your motivation, always increase your knowledge, and above all, do everything you do with integrity.

You will get your chance to show your  preparation and you qualifications.  Don’t waste it.  Always be prepared!

We welcome your comments.

Always conduct yourself ethically and conduct yourself as if someone is always watching, because they are!  Separate yourself from the rest.  Always do the right thing!

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A few years ago I received a call from someone selling promotional items.

The call went like this:  “Mr. Parker this is Jim Carr from Midwest Promotional Products (I have changed the name).  When we last spoke, you advised me to call you back this October to discuss our organization providing you with some of your branded items for the upcoming year…”

I will stop here for a moment.  I knew right away that my organization did a great job of providing promotional items, and that was the only source that we used.  The fact is, that the opening line from this sales person was an simple unadulterated lie.

I responded, “Mr. Carr, I don’t remember having talked to you.  I would not have asked you to call me back as we are not in the market for branded material.  We buy from a central source within our organization.” He responded with lie number two, “Maybe it was not you but one of your managers that I talked to that referred me to you.  I just wanted to share with you our line of…”

I quickly dispatched of the call for one simple reason…if this sales ‘professional’ was going to start off this conversation with two lies and misrepresentations, when was the third going to happen?

Sales ethics is lacking overall in many  industries, and you have the ability to make sure that you do your part to make the sale profession ethical and honorable.   If you sell a product or a service, you must recognize the importance of ethics in your ability to not only have longevity in this fine occupation, but also to be successful and prosperous.   In the example above, the rep only needed to say that he wanted to find out my interest in his product.  Sales professionals consistently used that approach with me and got an audience.

The Bright Line of Ethics

Note an important fact: The distinction between ethical and unethical will appear as a ‘bright line’ once you internalize your desire to act ethically in all situations.

This rep did what was akin to attempting to ‘sneak through the back door’.  I would want to start a relationship with someone who would so quickly and comfortably start out with a lie.  This may not seem to be large, but think about it,

Ethics: The principles of conduct governing an individual or group (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

The need for ethics in sales is real, and will set you, as sales professional, apart from those who fail to recognize its importance.  Even more, it will allow you to sleep at night.

You will look to be fair, equitable, and transparent when you work with a customer.   Avoid exaggerations and untruths and communicate well, following up with correspondence.

Once you are there, the ‘smell test’ will become part of your quick review.  Once you internalize ethics, you will become sensitized to how everything affects not just the customer, but also all other parties (your employer included).  At that point you recognize that you work for an organization, but also are an advocate for your customer.  The customer has no other voice.  There is no doubt who pays you, but we need to make sure that your customers are treated ethically. Put yourself in the shoes of the customer, and articulate the situation to your organization.  If you were the customer you would want to be working with professionals who you have credibility, trustworthiness, and a desire to do right even when no one is looking.

Ask yourself these important questions:

• Do you feel lying is acceptable? (BSJ 6/30/11 - Telling the Truth – It works Wonders for a Relationship)
• Do you want credibility? (BSJ 3/31/11 Credibility – The Ultimate Goal of Black Sales Professional)
• Do you want the customer’s trust? (BSJ 5/26/11 – The Black Sales Professional – Closing Two Sales at Once)
• Can you hold yourself to a higher value?

These questions are simple but the impact is huge.

Even When No One is Looking!

I was once riding in a company vehicle with a sales rep and the customer to a business lunch in the Chicago area.  We were coming to a toll both and the rep reached into a bag and grabs a coin, which he deposited in the automatic toll basket and we were allowed to proceed.  At that time the toll was 25 cents.  On the way back from the successful lunch, he did the same.  As he did it, I looked at the bag, which must have had 200 or more coins and inquired as to how he got that many quarters.  He indicated that they were not quarters, but after a recent trip to Mexico he had a bag of centavos that were essentially worthless here.

Remember, this is in front of the customer.  Our customer heard him admit to using worthless foreign coins in the toll basket.  If you were the customer, how would you feel about this reps credibility?  What would you think about the organization that you were doing business with as you witnessed him doing it in front of his manager?

We had to terminate the rep (I refuse to call him a sales professional).  Let’s look at it from an employer’s view.  This unethical individual did the following:

• Sullied his image and the organization’s image in front of the customer creating doubt as to our ethics and credibility
• Engaged in a civil wrong which might have carried criminal penalties as well
• Committed expense fraud as he also received reimbursement for fraudulent expenses

I contacted the customer as I introduced the new sales rep.  I apologized for the fact that our representative did what he did, and explained that I had someone who was solid who would take care of him.  The customer said the following to me, “I really wondered about what organization would allow its employee to cheat like that.  I liked [him] but realized that I did not know him well enough to trust him.”  The customer was watching my response as much as he was watching the actions of the rep.

Black Sales Professional – Rise Above It All!

As a Black sales professional you should demonstrate sound solid ethics, and be the advocate of the customer in making sure that your organization is fair with the customer.  With a sound ethics ‘compass’ you will be able to ‘feel’ whether what you are doing meets the ethics tests.

This stance and advocacy will help create the strongest of relationships.  Don’t miss the chance to do it.  It is a responsibility that may test you, but will also strengthen you and your relationship.

Be consistently ethical and you will be the best.

Your comments are welcome.