What Your Sales Manager Should Never Have to Manage

Your sales manager should never have to manage your activity. Your self-discipline, your goals, and your personal ambition should provide the motivation for your activity. If your sales manager has to look at your activity then you are doing something wrong.

You sales manager must never have to manage attitude. Your healthy beliefs and your great sense of optimism underlie all of the results that you produce in sales—and in life. Your sales manager should never be concerned that you are negative, pessimistic, or cynical. And they should never have to worry about you being a carrier of the disease that can quickly infect the entire sales force.

Your sales manager should never have to manage your commitments. Your word should be your bond, and your system should keep track of those commitments. If your sales manager has to follow up on your commitments you aren’t long for the world of sales.

Your sales manager should never have to manage the timeliness or accuracy of your data in your sales force automation software. There is nothing more important to you than your relationships, and you should be managing the records of your relationships.

Your sales manager should never have to concern themselves with either the quality or the amount of opportunities in your pipeline. Your pipeline is the key to your personal results; you should be managing your pipeline yourself. Your sales manager should never have to do more than check the box here.

You want your sales manager to coach, train, teach, and develop your skills. You want them to do their part to help you make your number, including leading some calls where you need them and marshaling internal resources for you when necessary. You want your sales manager to work on notching you up a level, but not from a level beneath a level you should attain by managing yourself.