You can’t steal second with one foot on first

The title of this article is an old baseball axiom that has been adopted as a widely used metaphor in both business and personal endeavors.  I’m going to use it in the context of sales management to illustrate the problems of functioning as a top performing sales rep while attempting to lead a team.  This practice of selling (keeping a foot on first) while attempting to squeeze in time to manage others (trying to steal second) creates a series of predictable and unfortunate results.

The role of the Sales Manager is to plan sales strategies, implement those strategies by engaging the sales team members and control revenue generation through monitoring, coaching and course corrections as needed.  The problem most Sales Managers encounter relates to the need for immediate revenue gratification versus the development of people and broader-scope business opportunities.  The reality is that most Sales Managers are sales professionals first and managers second (or third or fourth).  This means that a good deal of their time will be spent – either by their own desire or upper management pressure – involved in personal selling activities.  By committing large chunks of their time to their own sales focus, they reduce the time available for mentoring and coaching other Reps on their team.

When managers focus more on selling than they do on developing others on their staff they contribute to a number of organizational ills.

• Poor Sales Growth. One individual (sales manager) carrying too much of the selling load will inevitably lead to stagnant sales growth.  The overburdened sales manager may also fail to provide the proper level of attention to the maintenance and growth of the accounts he or she does handle.
• Manager Burn Out. This is a direct result of the pressure of having to increase personal sales every year, while feeling like they are “babysitting” a bunch of poor performers.
• “Warm Body” Syndrome. Since managers are consumed with selling they keep underperforming employees around based on the concept of “a warm body is better than no body.”  They don’t have the time to coach the employee out of a rut and they certainly don’t have the time to recruit and train someone new.
• An extremely large number of promising employees are lost every year through neglect and frustration.  Whether it is a mid-level performer who has hit a wall and needs some additional guidance or a newer employee who has become frustrated and disillusioned, every member of the team is a candidate for turnover when they feel neglected or ill-used.

So, how does a sales manager learn the proper way to “steal second”?  Obviously you don’t just take off and hope you don’t get thrown out – translated: you don’t just stop selling and start managing.  Great base-stealers spend a lot of time preparing.  They study the moves of opposing pitchers, they know the strengths and weaknesses of opposing catchers.  They have great “situational awareness”, meaning they understand where they are in the game, in the count, the abilities of their teammate at bat, signals from the dug out, etc.  Sales Managers must go through the same type of preparation in order to make the shift to more of a focus on team development.

1. Make the personal commitment. It starts with you.  You must decide if you want to manage and develop others rather than dedicate yourself to personal sales.
2. Analyze demands on your time. Good intentions are worthless if implementation is unrealistic.  Can you off load any customers or less important responsibilities and duties?  Don’t be a control freak, others can do many of the things you are currently involved in.
3. Size up your staff. Who is currently performing?  Who is capable of growing and performing at higher levels?  Who, if any, should move on to other opportunities (be terminated)?  This step requires that you spend some time with each team member – in selling situations, observing.
4. Create a transition plan. Use calls on your own accounts as an opportunity to model good selling behavior.  Make every call a coaching call by demonstrating proper form then discussing it after the call.  Go along with Reps on their calls as an observer.  Watch them then coach them afterwards.  As Reps get more confident and competent you can off load more of your sales responsibilities.
5. Get management buy-in. No business owner or manager is going to respond positively to the idea that their top sales performer is planning to decrease their sales activity.  An individual wanting to shift from a sales-dominant to a management-dominant role should provide a compelling strategy for making that transition.  That strategy will need to include tactics for ensuring that sales don’t slump while the “base is being stolen”.

I believe that it is healthy for Sales Managers to retain some accounts so that they can keep their own sales skills sharp.  But I am also convinced that many of the problems encountered by businesses stem from a lack of strong, dedicated sales management.  We can learn to take our foot off of first and become great base-stealers, we just have to do our homework and prepare so that we avoid being thrown out at second.