The talented salesman’s weakness, as seems to be the case with most tyrannical-type managers, is a lack of trust. The question I hear asked most often by people I meet is, “How can you find people that you can trust? I have never been able to do that.” I can tell you they’re definitely out there; they’re everywhere. You have to have faith in people’s ability. You have to see their potential and after training them up, let them run with the job. By acting as a guide and mentor you’ll rarely be proven wrong.
The key is to not undermine them by stepping in and doing their job. Give them responsibility and they will rise to the occasion. In the automotive business, which has so many brands, we cannot afford to have mini-tyrants: Those who feel insecure and feel that if they employ a person who is better than they are, the position they hold will be in jeopardy. This style of management does not last. Badly performing salespeople are singled out, and more often than not the sales manager is also.
Being a tyrant is an old-fashioned way of running a business – ruling by fear or ignorance.
A tyrant will never have any staff who are 100 per cent committed, because people who are driven by fear don’t share a goal and won’t be passionate about their work. Such a tyrant will always wonder why they are the one with all the lazy, under-performing staff.
These managers never learn these lessons because they don’t listen. You can end up very lonely if the only person you listen to is yourself. Everyone is likely to get off track, and we need to know when it’s happening, so we should welcome any advice when it’s offered.
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Extract from the book – ‘Sales Manager Reset’. Copyright © MMXVII Allan Lorraine ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without the expressed written, dated and signed permission from the author.