I have always gotten some great satisfaction from working. Both the success and the struggles make the rest of life that much more rewarding. While I enjoy the work, I am determined not to do it more than a certain number of hours per week. Someday when I am on my death bed, I will not be saying “Oh, I wish I would have stayed at the office later a few more nights.”
So, easier said than done? I don’t think so. As a sales manager I realized there was so much room to add efficiencies, none of which were shortcuts, just smarter, more efficient ways of ensuring my waking hours weren’t solely for work.
When I first became a manager I looked around at the “busiest” sales managers and quickly realized they weren’t the most successful. As a matter of fact, the successful ones looked calm and went golfing on Fridays. Guess which group I wanted to belong to!
Here is one practice the golfers used and you can use it to if you have better things to do than work late every night.
Expect more and babysit less. Sales Managers manage adults. Why do they feel they have to remind them 10 times about a report that’s due or an upcoming meeting? Why do they call them when they are late for a meeting to remind them to join the call? Why do sales managers send reminder emails about something on every one’s calendar? Why do sales managers re-send information that has already been sent or could be found on the company intranet?
See where I am going here? Many sales managers are creating their own monsters, allowing their sales reps – actually training them to – get away with undisciplined behavior that those very sales managers wouldn’t tolerate from their children.
So, how do sales managers turn this around and begin saving hours per week? They simply must stop the behavior that the sales reps begin to rely on. If there is a meeting that a sales rep must attend, managers should send the reps a calendar notice with all the necessary information right in the meeting notice. Once reps “accept” that meeting, they should NOT be reminded again. Tasks and information should be sent in an organized, consistent format with clear due dates. The sales manager must communicate to the team how they will receive information and then make sure to stick to the communication plan and then let them be.
Use the technology to communication effectively, make sure everyone knows the communication system and allow adults to act like adults. Everyone will feel better, more organized and more in control.
Expect More, Stop Babysitting.
Post brought to you by Jill Myrick of Meeting to Win, LLC. Meeting to Win provides weekly sales team meeting agendas for sales managers who want to proactively manage their sales teams through a weekly sales team meeting.
