Why Great Sales Reps Become Bad Managers

October 10, 2011

This is a guest post by Dave Kahle, President, The DaCo Corporation

Man speaking on Windows Mobile device outside

(Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on DaveKahle.com.)

We’ve all done it. Promoted a good salesperson, often our best, to sales manager. My files are full of cases where the results were below expectations for everyone involved. Principals and CSOs are often disappointed in the lack of results, and the sales managers are confused and frustrated with the lack of achievement of their teams.

A variation on this theme usually produces even more angst. A good salesperson, without any real management experience, is hired from outside the company to fill a sales manager position. When these decisions go bad, the hurt feelings, negative attitudes and difficult situations that result can be ugly.

Not that this is always the case. Many CSOs and executives rose through the ranks in just this fashion, contributing exceptionally at every stage. But, these cases are generally the exception, not the rule.

The rule is that few good salespeople make good sales managers.

Why is that?

Consider the unique blend of strengths and aptitudes that often mark the character of an exceptional salesperson. Great salespeople often have very high standards for themselves and everyone around them. They are highly focused on the customer, often to the determent of their relationships with their colleagues. It’s not unusual for your star salesperson to irritate and frustrate the people in the operational side of the business with a brusque and demanding attitude. After all, they think, I’m extending myself to take care of my customers, why shouldn’t I expect everyone else to do the same?

When they become sales managers, they expect all of their salespeople to be just as hard-driving and achievement-oriented as they were. Unfortunately, the reality is that most of their salespeople don’t share the same degree of drive and perfectionism. If they did, they would have been promoted to sales manager. That means the sales manager is often frustrated with the performance and attitudes of his or her charges, and confused as to how to change them.

The exceptional salesperson is often an independent character, who thrives in a climate where they can make their own decisions, determine their own call patterns, and spend time by themselves.

Alas, they loses almost all of that when promoted to sales manager. They are expected to work a consistent, well-defined work week, spend a certain number of hours in the office, and fulfill specific administrative functions. The freedom to make their own decisions and determine their own days is gone. As a result, they often struggle with how to adjust to this new work environment and still be productive.

Whereas before, these salespeople were clearly and independently responsible for their own results, they now must achieve those results through other people. Too often, the sales manager defaults to where they become the “super salesperson,” taking over accounts, projects and sales calls from less talented charges. This creates frustration on all parts.

The exceptional salesperson has the ability and propensity to see every situation optimistically, overlooking all the obstacles and concentrating on the potential in every account. That is a necessary element to the sales personality. Without it, they couldn’t weather all the rejection and frustration inherit in the sales job.

But that personality strength that serves they well as salespeople is a major obstacle to their success as sales managers. When it comes to hiring a new salesperson, they often find themselves viewing every candidate through those same optimistic eyes.

Dave Kahle is one of the world’s leading sales educators.  He has written nine books, and worked with hundreds of companies and tens of thousands of sales people to enrich sales people and transform sales organizations.  Sign up for his weekly Ezine, check out his blog, or visit The Sales Resource Center where there are over 435 training programs available 24/7 over the internet – all designed to help everyone sell better.

President

<strong>Dave Kahle</strong> has trained tens of thousands of distributor and B2B sales people and sales managers to be more effective in the 21st Century economy. Has authored ten books, including Question Your Way to Sales Success and 11 Secrets of Time Management for Salespeople and his latest, How to Sell Anything to Anyone Anytime. His books have been translated into eight languages, and are available in over 20 countries. He is also the President of <a href="http://www.dacocorp.com/">DaCo Corporation</a>.