Sales management can be a useful role for any sales professional.  An insight to the general concepts of sales techniques, the sales process, and invaluable sales insights are all great benefits of a manager who has “carried the bag”, found success, and is now in the position to be able to relate leadership and advice to those who are in need.

A special asset to all is the Black sales manager.  On the presumption that this individual has pursued the normal training and rites of passage as any other sales professional.  Couple this with some degree of mastery of the techniques necessary to deal with rejection, preference, and prejudice; this individual can truly be a resource.

This utility and collection of skills and attributes comes with a responsibility to reach production and strategic goals as well as the perfunctory duties of hiring and training sales professionals.  I would suggest to you that even though this is a difficult job, a person that recognizes the rigors of selling for all sales professionals – those in the majority and those in the minority, could gain perspective.

Certainly not to disparage those in the job that are not Black, yet the fundamental premise that I am making is that there is some uniqueness in being Black and selling to a non-Black Audience that once experienced creates lifelong lessons that need to be shared for the benefit of others.

The Black Sales Manager – an Asset

The Black sales manager may not have had any more sales success as a sales professional than the non-Black sales manager.  They very possibly don’t have any different technique, or special desk training.  All things equal, they may not have any different general skill set but what they do have is a set of experiences that have produced an enormous insight that is difficult to “manufacture”.

This set of experiences manifest itself in many ways including the ability to share this knowledge with their direct reports, and the rest of the organization.  This sharing helps the development of Black sales professionals as well as others on being a minority in the sales profession.  The same tenets that apply to Blacks have implication there as well.  Preference in employment as well as prejudice will look similar across race and gender, as well as religion.

Most sales managers have strong sales skills, above average product knowledge, and good people skills.  The Black sales manager would not be in the job without these skills, but also possesses experience dealing with rejection that comes from nothing other than having additional pigmentation.  Many of them learn to scale the mountains of preference and prejudice, as well as racial perceptions it in many of the ways described in Black Sales Journal.  Preference, prejudice, and perceptions represent the 3 Ps that I have discussed so often (Black Sales Journal 12/27/2011 – The 3Ps and Your Customer and many other posts).

How Can You Benefit?

Here is the opportunity to get input from an experienced warrior on a variety of skills and ways to face the market.  Knowledge of prospecting techniques, both phone and in-person would be good questions as well as any other ways to source prospects.

It is a basic fact that having a management that is the same color does not mean that anything should be any less rigorous.  It may be more sympathetic, but the numbers are the numbers.  The production goals of that your manager has a responsibility to meet are an aggregate of yours and your colleagues.  Your performance regarding production/sales as well as goal attainment is a shared goal with the sales manager, so your success is reflected in that relationship.

Don’t expect favors, leniency, or forgiveness, but expect a fair chance and real-life advice on being more effective.  You deserve it, so if you are not getting it, then you need to ask for it.

Relating Practical Experience

At a point fairly early in my career I had my chance to be a sales manager of a field sales unit, a regional sales manager over several sales units, and Vice President of Marketing (responsible for sales from multiple distribution channels).  There was always the struggle to find applicants of color who had the qualifications and presence who wanted to be sales professionals.

When we found this special individual, we wanted to keep him/her.  As you know the sales position is not for everyone, to find someone who is trainable and presentation ready is a tall order, yet we must recognize that they are out there.

This gave me a good opportunity to have a good discussion about how I and others cleared some of the hurdles and gained effectiveness.  Those discussions make a difference.  Sometimes roll playing and even stark criticism are necessary, with an end in mind of helping to advance a sales professionals skills.

If you are thinking about being a sales manager, you might consider reading Black Sales Journal 3/21, Are You Sales Management Material? If you are working for a Black sales manager you might consider asking more questions and getting more clarifications.  I am sure they will share their “secrets”.

I share mine twice a week here at Black Sales Journal.

Your comments are welcome.