Why sales managers face unique challenges

Senior managers that lack sales experience may not fully appreciate the unique demands placed on sales managers.

Those of us who manage salespeople have different challenges to those of other managers. Sales management is unique for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the amount of accountability salespeople must deal with; more so than practically any other employee. Sales by its nature is results oriented, so the numbers are either there or they're not there.

A sales representative will often be in a territory by themselves, carrying the responsibility of a company's success, and sales managers must have the skills to help salespeople deal with that pressure. More broadly, salespeople operate under the constant scrutiny of the management team and are held accountable for the continued sales success of the business. The output of no other job is so immediately visible, transparent and tangible. There is no place to hide.

In addition to this accountability, sales managers are the only managers who manage people who are afraid. And salespeople are afraid. Unlike virtually every other profession, be it an engineer, an accountant or a systems analyst, salespeople come to work afraid. Salespeople must face the unknown every day, and are consistently challenged by a different ditch to cross, a different fire to deal with, and always, numbers that must be achieved.

This fear is not just felt by new salespeople, who may lack experience and confidence, but also by our more senior, most successful salespeople. They often fear not being able to maintain their level of productivity, and so they also find themselves under pressure. And without exception every member of the sales team knows that if they say or do the wrong thing they risk losing a major account. So once again sales managers must have the skills to deal with this fear, the fear of the unknown, that salespeople face on a daily basis.

Fortune's sales leadership training program, 'Practical Sales Management, helps sales managers develop the leadership skills to do just that.....grow strong sales teams that get results!