Bad management practices. They are common and they could be costing your company dearly in lost sales and profits. Below are examples of when management does more harm than good, and how to fix them.
Bad Management Practices from a Customer Perspective
I once had a very unpleasant experience as a customer. It was another example on when customer service goes horrible wrong. Then I started to think about the root cause of the issue. It turns out it the real fault rested solely on the shoulders of the manager I was dealing with.
Why? Because he one of those managers who only did for, not showed how.
Everything literally had to be done by him or be approved by him. He caused so many bottle necks in the process that employees were literally standing around waiting for further instructions. They could not have helped me if they wanted to because they simply didn’t know how.
Did the manager know how to get the job done? Absolutely. The problem was he was the only one who knew. The net result is they lost me as a customer, permanently.
Another Example of Bad Management Practices
A few years ago, a learning opportunity knocked on my door. As background information, I should explain that the City of Ottawa was launching a new green bin recycling program at the time. The first week they first went door to door to drop off our new recycling bins. Then a few days later, they had crews going door to door answering residents’ questions.
The program has raised a number of concerns with the public at the time. In fact, it was quite controversial. Since I didn’t fully understand the program myself, I welcomed the opportunity to receive the answers to my questions. I was soon frustrated and disappointed by what I was hearing. However the reason why I was frustrated had nothing to do with the recycling program. It was because I wasn’t getting any answers! Finally, after the fourth “I don’t know” I gave up.
Shame on Management
I closed the door thinking the whole experience was a complete waste of my time and taxpayers’ money. Then I thought to myself that this was not the worker’s fault. Shame on the poor employee’s manager for sending him into the streets without first giving him the knowledge or tools to do his job properly! I was getting “I don’t know” because the employee wasn’t given the answers to my questions in the first place.
Bad Management Practices are Common
Unfortunately, this type of situation is common in business too. How often is a technician sent out on a service call only to discover the required part is out of stock? Or how often is a customer service representative forced to deal with an angry call because the phone system had the customer on hold for 15 minutes?
It’s no different on the sales side either. How many times is a sales representative newly hired and told to go out and sell without anyone taking the time to show him how to process an order? Or how often is a new product launched without giving the sales force the right pricing or expected delivery schedules for customers?
When Sales Managers Stifle Sales Results
Are you one of those managers who is doing more harm than good? You might be.
Have you ever thought “I don’t have time to show you; it’s just quicker if I do it myself.”? Do you ever think “He can’t close this sale; I better do it for him.” How about “Just bring me the lead and I will handle the rest.”?
Have you ever noticed the more you do something for your team, the more you have to do it? Do you need to do so many pricing approvals that you basically rubber stamp them because you really don’t have time to properly review them anymore?
Have you ever done one of these 30 bad management behaviors?
If you answered yes to any one of these questions, then guess what? I hate to tell you this, but you are one of those managers and you are doing you and your company more harm than good.
You are the Coach, Not the Team
You have to stop trying to be the whole team, and start being the coach of the team. Yes, training may take more time up front, but it will save you time in the long run. A sales rep may not know how to close a sale today, but if you show him how as opposed to doing it for him, then you will be both closers eventually closing twice as much business.
Can you imagine how much you will produce if you train ten others on your sales team to sell at a top level like you do?
Fixing Bad Management Practices Starts With Being A Better Coach
There are a few key skills to be a great sales manager. However many would agree that coaching is one of the most important.
For detailed information on how to be a better sales coach, including the management tools you will need to get started immediately, check out my book Action Plan For Sales Management Success. It includes proven tips and techniques used by today’s top producing sales managers. As one of my associates said, “Susan …understands the sales process intimately and is able to create a management process around it that drives sales people to accomplish their goals.”
Another great book on how to be a better sales coach is Super Charge Your Sales Team-A Sales Manager’s Guide to Effective Coaching. It’s written by my business partner, Robert J. Weese, a professional sales coach with a proven history of helping sales teams reach record revenue growth. A former competitive fencer, Bob has decades of experience working with high performance athletes, and he knows the parallels between success in sports and success in sales are rooted in the same framework.
The Bottom Line on Bad Management Practices
We have all seen it, we are all frustrated by it, yet as managers, we continue to do it! When we point our index finger at an employee for doing a bad job, there are three fingers pointing right back at us.
A mistake or customer complaint is just as much our fault as it is the sales representatives. If we are not giving the tools to do the job right and not training the employees how to use them, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Shame on us!
Always remember, take the time to train your people. It’s in your customers’ best interest and in yours.
Remember as Dale Carnegie once said, “No man will ever make a great leader who wants to do it all by himself or to get all the credit for doing it.” More motivational quotes here.
Aim Higher!
Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Coach and Author
Schedule a free sales coaching strategy session with Susan here.
“… what I can tell anyone, is simply this – If you want to learn and understand sales, talk to Susan.”
Do you have a sales rep who is not producing as they should? Do you need a repeatable process you can use over and over to to put every sales rep on your team on the right road to success? Check out our webinar video, Your 90 Day Sales Rep Success Plan – How to create an On Boarding Process that puts your sales reps on the right road to success!
