Magic Monday: What Should the Role of the Front Line Sales Manager Be?

Where can you find the magic at work today? I find it in collaborating with other entrepreneurs to deliver value to our clients.A colleague of mine, David Masover, interviewed me to get my perspective on what the role of the front line sales manager should be to drive growth. He interviewed five other experts and compiled the results into the format of a panel discussion in his e-book: Your Front Line Sales Manager: Glorified Sales Rep or Driver of Growth?

I think you will find the way David put together the interview answers an interesting read that looks at the complexity of the role of the sales manager balancing selling with managing and leading while ensuring bottom line results. I don't think sales managers ever completely get away from selling, or should they. The question is on what percentage of their time should they be engaged in selling versus managing their people to sell.

I told David, "To be a really, really good manager, you need to get charged by empowering others to be the one to close the deal, and so if you're a fantastic salesperson who's just been promoted, if you don't somehow have a mindset shift or are able to shift getting excited about seeing somebody else close the deal versus you being the one to close the deal, you're probably not going to be too happy being a manager, and you're probably not going to be good at it, because you're probably always going to be wanting to step in and do it for them versus letting them do it."

You may access the full interview with David and me here.

David also offers some free training, in addition to a more comprehensive paid training program you may access through the e-book. I am most curious to learn what your point of view is on what the role of the sales manager is, or should be in your organization.This week's reflection questions: What percentage should your front line sales person be selling versus managing? What works in your organization? How do you know your sales managers are engaged in activities that will give you growth that is sustainable?