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Wednesday, 18 January 2012

5 Things a Sales Manager Should Learn from Caldwell's Firing

Today the Colts fired Head Coach Jim Caldwell…..Don’t let the same thing happen to you! The world of professional sports is a highly competitive and highly public world. Being a head coach of an NFL team is one of the most public roles in sports. So what can you, and your team, learn from what happened to Jim Caldwell?

5 Things a Sales Manager Should Learn from Caldwell's Firing:

1. Have more than one star.
We aren’t all going to Peyton Manning and if you have the luxury of having Peyton Manning on your team, then you need to ensure your team keeps developing as a team; not all standing around at practice watching your star throw it 60 yards. (I’m not sure if the Colt’s were doing this in 2010 but you get the point).


2. Know your Threats
Any standard SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of a ANY team should ask the ultimate question: WHAT IF.......? What if your top sales person leaves? What if your largest customer leavers? It is great to admire your Strengths in any situation…..just remember the Threats could get you fired. You don’t think so….ask Jim Caldwell.

3. Manage your Threats
So you clearly understand the threats you and your team face on a daily basis….now what? You need to manage your threats. Have your team routinely make the extra sales call with your largest customer. Check in with all your sales people to make sure they are fully engaged at work (lack of engagement means one foot out the door…..and likely they'll be heading to your competition). Don’t look at threats once a year during your budget/sales review then file them in your desk. Keep threats in mind when planning weekly, monthly and quarterly goals.


4. Start Mentoring
Perhaps you, as the sales manager, are the star of your team. (Not likely) If you feel you are then start mentoring the less experienced sales people on your team. Maybe you are really lucky and have Peyton Manning on your team. Great, get him mentoring your sales people. You need to be grooming everyone on your team in the event that your star sales person leaves….then you have people ready to fill the void.


5. Dust off the resume
Nobody’s perfect. If you are caught in a situation like Jim Caldwell with your star-power sidelined….its probably not a stupid idea to dust off your resume. If your team’s sales numbers are down and your strategies are not working then you need to be aware of your own threats.

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