BusinessWeek.com offers up a great article from one of the authors of First, Break All The Rules. The author discusses how managers discover what makes their employees tick and then they use that information to place the employee in the best situations for success. This approach is one we wholly subscribe to:
Do what great managers do: Instead of trying to change your employees, identify their unique abilities (and even their eccentricities)—then help them use those qualities to excel in their own way.
This approach is one greatly important aspect of successful sales management. At times, we see sales managers who expect the sales team to adapt fully to him or her. That is a mistake. Granted, the team will have to learn the sales manager’s preferences and expectations, but the sales manager must adapt roles and meet the team towards the middle. The author’s suggestion to start this process:
First identify each employee’s unique strengths: Walk around, observing people’s reactions to events. Note activities each employee is drawn to. Ask “What was the best day at work you’ve had in the past three months?” Listen for activities people find intrinsically satisfying.
Watch for weaknesses, too, but downplay them in your communications with employees. Offer training to help employees overcome shortcomings stemming from lack of skills or knowledge.
I agree – invest time with your salespeople, but there is a way to turbo this process. Assess them. We assess salespeople daily via online assessments that reveal their motivations, natural abilities, developed skills. We provide this information for external sales candidates with whom the sales manager does not have prior experience or knowledge. This objective approach to management allows the sales manager to spend less time evaluating and more time developing their team.