Interim Sales Managers: When Can Hiring an Interim Sales Manager be the Best Option?

At first glance, an interim sales manager may seem like a strange concept. After all, “sales” is a constant, “business as usual” function within any organisation.

However, over recent years, the concept of an interim sales manager has emerged. Specifically interim sales managers are increasingly seen as a flexible and appropriate solution in the following three business situations:

1) Stop Gaps

2) Start-ups

3) Special Projects

This article looks at each of these three situations and explores how an interim sales manager can add immediate value.

Stop Gaps

Many companies can find themselves in positions where they have a short-term requirement to plug a gap in their sales function. Typical scenarios include long-term illness, maternity leave and any type of sudden unplanned crisis.

Whether it’s because the situation does not allow for a permanent resource, or that the time to recruit leaves sales exposed, an interim sales manager can bring immediate resource to bear on the problem.

Almost exclusively, temporary sales people are not catered for in the general recruitment market; this is the domain of professional interim sales managers who specialise in filling immediate interim assignments.

Start-ups

Another common situation where an interim sales manager is a good solution is with start-ups and early stage companies. Typically, these companies have limited resources and find attracting top sales talent a real problem.

Interim sales managers are usually over-qualified, experienced individuals with broad experience across different business stages. As well as bringing additional “hands on” sales resource, an interim sales manager will add value through supporting the start-up management team with strategy and market development.

Interim sales managers are also “heavy hitters” with strong networks, capable of opening doors and bringing in major deals that younger sales hires would struggle with.

Special Projects

Finally, every business has times when they need to focus resource on new areas to drive revenue. Often, these special projects emerge from board-level strategies to sustain profitable growth and retain a competitive edge.

These could include exploring new markets, evaluating current sales channels, or merging sales teams and divisions.

An interim sales manager is an excellent solution for this situation. Crucially, interim sales managers bring a fresh perspective, unencumbered by internal politics and structures.

In addition, while it could be argued that existing sales people could be utilised for these special projects, rather than bringing in an interim sales manager, this seldom works in reality.

Why? Unlike an Interim Sales Manager, existing sales people (if they are good) are best left focused on execution. Indeed, most of their remuneration will come from successfully selling established products to existing markets.

Many a new product launch has been halted by sales teams that are not interested in selling the new product; once they experience resistance, they go back to selling what they know.

In contrast, interim sales managers measure success by their last assignment. Once you have an interim sales manager focused on delivering a successful outcome they have no option but to make it work.

In summary, there are many situations where hiring an interim sales manager is the best option.

From start-ups to multi-national organisations, interim sales managers represent a flexible and results-focused solution short-term sales and business development resourcing.

Some Sales Managers are Idiots!

Yes, I said it, some sales managers are idiots.

I know, I work with field sales professionals all the time and deal with the problems that sales managers cause.

Look at the really smart companies whose sales managers are always successful, they do it right, IBM, P&G, Xerox. We all bought their books and training programs, but few of us actually implemented what they taught us.

I guess the companies simply expected the sales force to improve without good sales management! Sales training does not relieve a company of management responsibility.

Two things that sales management does wrong continually are no goal setting and the wrong skills training.

First, establish goals and then a reward system based on those goals. That sounds simple, but most companies don’t do it. They say “we need to increase the number of new customers this year. So go out and get more customers.” That’s it, no reward system for achievement, no consequences for failure. And, that is not really a goal!!

Remember, a goal is “a detailed objective to be achieved by a specific point in time.” More customers this year is not a goal, it is a dream, wish, hope or something, but not a goal.

Second, this one really confuses me. Companies will spend literally thousands of dollars each year or two on sales skills training, but won’t spend 0 per sales person on a Prospecting Kit. Yet prospecting is the only skill that will get a sales person into a situation where they can actually use their selling skills!!!

So that tells me and the sales team that the sales manager is not really serious about getting new customers. Also, most sales people are really customer service people, they make very few presentations, so they can save the money on that skills training.

If you want to step away from the crowd set up actual goals and a reward system for their achievement. Train your folks in the skills necessary to achieve the goals, and then sit back and watch your business grow. That’s the way the big guys do it.

Sell Well and Often,

Bill

Bill@BlitzCall.com

© Copyright 2008 WJ Truax

Sales Managers Must be Good Coaches

If you’re not satisfied with your sales status look to the coach of your team – your sales managers. Here’s a way to check how good they are.

1. Does your sales manager know where his/her sales will come from by account, by product / service for 2008? Or is it about, “Here is my number. Let get out there and sell, sell, sell.” Ask each one to explain where the sales for 2008 will come from.

2. Does your sales manager know how to motivate each of his sales people? Yes, money is key, but money goes to the family. Money is about survival. But what really get the sales person going. See if your sales manager can answer this question about his sales people.

3. Does you sales manager coach and mentor. Coaching is telling his people what to do, i.e. get to the ultimate decision maker. Mentoring is showing them how to do it, i.e. show how to use your main contact to network you to the ultimate decision maker.

This requires discussing sales call plans and pursuit strategies. Then making sales calls together – not for the sales manager to sell, but to observe, give feedback and lay-out a behavior modification plan. How often does you manager do this with each sales person.

4. Does you sales manager turn-over and recruit effectively and timely. In other words does he purge the bottom 10% each year and constantly seek new recruits. Most managers are reactive. When someone leaves, they then seek a replacement. Unfortunately, because of 1-3 above, the better people (maybe not the best) leave and then the manager starts recruiting. This leaves you with the poorer performers and the new hire becomes what ever was available.

Like a college football coach, your sales manager must be good at recruiting good talent and then showing this raw talent what to do and how to do it. Don’t ever get sucked into the “experienced sales person”. Experience only means someone has been doing it before. It says nothing about how good one is, especially selling your products and services. That’s where the coaching and mentoring becomes critical. As in football and all sports, coaching and practice is critical and ongoing.

5. Finally does your sales manager hold your sales people accountable? That is when a forecasted sale isn’t made, is there a discussion that holds the sales person’s feet to the fire? Are there consequences as well as rewards? As my old football coach use to say, “I don’t want excuses, I want results or else you don’t start.”

Now it’s your call. Is the person responsible for the most important element of your business – sales – capable and doing what it takes to get you where you want to be? Or do you need to step up and take actions of training your managers or hiring new ones – and then training them. If professionals like Tiger Woods and every other athlete needs coaching, your sales managers do as well.