Sales management is not an easy profession. It requires leadership, experience and perseverance, but also important “people skills”. Mistakes are made wherever people work, and therefore also by sales managers. We have listed 6 mistakes that we often encounter in daily practice.

No experience as a salesperson in the industry

Selling is a profession in itself: it is a specialty that requires a lot of experience. In addition, the job of a salesperson is also completely different per industry. Selling beers to catering establishments requires a different skillset than selling heavy industrial machines. In our opinion, it still happens too often that managers enter a sector in which they (yet) have too little experience. If you have limited experience as a salesperson in the industry you are working in, take the time to familiarize yourself with it.

Wanting to be or be “one of the guys”.

Sales managers are regularly appointed from the internal organization. In other words, the seller goes first “one of the guys” was, a direct colleague, suddenly becomes the boss. That often causes problems. Realize that the moment you choose that desired promotion, the relationship with your direct colleagues can and will change. You are no longer a normal salesperson, you are now the boss. Being liked is no longer always a realistic option. Of course, acting in a friendly and correct manner is entirely up to you.

Taking too much distance from practice

As a sales manager you have many different tasks. Coaching your team, drawing up and monitoring budgets, and of course stakeholder management. There is a good chance that you mainly take on administrative tasks and spend a lot of time in the office. The danger that lurks is that you will lose your connection with the practice. Make sure you make time in your agenda to hit the road. To regular customers, or with your salespeople, so that you maintain the feeling with your customers and the market.

Insufficient Responsibility

You have been appointed to take responsibility. And to wear. You are now the point of contact for management in the field of sales. You therefore partly place your fate in the hands of your sales team. To be a successful sales manager, you must dare to take this responsibility. You will often have to do the dirty work, for example in conflict situations. A dissatisfied customer must be managed well, and that is your responsibility from now on. So keep in mind that you will have to regularly have bad news conversations.

Taking credit

A sales team is like a football team: you are the coach, the players are the stars. Salespeople are generally confident men and women who do not mince their words. They are honor-minded and passionate about their profession. Salespeople innately dislike others who take credit for their hard work. In short, credit where credit is due. Although you direct the team, your salespeople are the stars who get the praise when there is success.

Just look at numbers

Selling is not an exact science. Context always plays an enormous and often decisive role. Market conditions, the economic situation, the history with the customer, the product or service that is offered: it all plays a role. Simply looking at the sales figures per salesperson (and in total) is a major risk and a common mistake. Rate the salespeople on your team for quality. Ask customers to assess the seller based on the relationship, attend conversations every now and then, and then make a substantive assessment. Figures are important, but above all they support the functioning of the individual person.