Why Do Sales Managers And Salespeople Often Fall Out?

In approximately 30% of sales people and sales manager relationships, the two regularly fall out and because of this managers often request management training to deal with this situation. The Business Psychology Institute carried out an extensive investigation to analyse the areas of friction and hidden points of potential conflict between sales people and their sales managers.

Intensive interviews between sales people and their sales managers regarding their experiences of their working relationship were carried out. The evaluation was carried out both as being pair-specific and as a group comparison.

What do those asked, think the objective of the business partnership is?
The above question showed great differences in viewpoint between the two groups.  Merely three pairs agreed about corporate goals. Barely half of all sales people believed that increasing turnover is the most important corporate objective.  Around third of sales management said that the main corporate objective was to increase market share.

These conflicting viewpoints are remarkable, bearing in mind both work for the same company.  This simply serves to demonstrate the lack of communication within the relationships.

This lack of communication is confirmed by the question about the sales person’s goals: only two pairs agreed. 40% of all sales people said increasing turnover was their main aim, while 40% said creating a living was their main goal.

However, just a third of sales management believed that increasing revenue was the sales person's main goal. None mentioned creating a good living as an objective or goal and a third did not even know what their individual staff member’s goals were.

Type and quality of the support

Most sales people said that they felt received more support from their former employer. Sales managers assessed the type of support differently. Sales managers predominantly said they supported their representatives through training sessions or meetings.

The greater part of representatives, on the other hand, thought they were being supported mainly through company prospectuses and catalogues. Some felt either they had received no support from their previous company, or they did not agree on the distant type of support the company had given.

What typical problems are there in the partnership?
Over half of those surveyed said the main point of conflict is turnover difficulties, followed by corporate procedure.  A quarter of those questioned said teamwork with their previous partner floundered principally because of lack of information and communication problems, although very few of those asked sviewed management as a problem.

Revenue difficulties are based, on the one hand, on waning turnover and, on the other, arguments about commission payments.

The greater part of sales managers thought that sales people were lacking in dedication.

Problems concerning corporate policy arose from differences in the company’s pricing policy, and the way complaints were dealt with and in the ability to deliver. Additionally, some sales people thought that the best opportunities were being denied to them.

Most managers complained that the information and communication problems are based predominantly on a lack of feedback.

The following sales person's statement brought a typical management problem to the surface: “I was contacted daily (by the sales manager) to see whether I had done any business that day.”  Sales people often felt they were constrained and that their free time was being infringed.

Sales people frequently disapprove of the instructive or even demanding manner of their sales managers. Sales managers on the other hand, complain on management training courses, that their sales people provide insufficient feedback about what is actually happening in the market place. Sales managers demand that their claim to influence is satisfied whereas sales people emphasise their independence.
 
Which decisive event is often the reason to split?
Declining turnover or poor work quality on the part of their salespeople, which led to faulty services and/or client complaints was seen by the sales managers as the most important reason for breaking up the business relationship.

For their part the sales people, credited the causes of moribund or declining revenue figures to the firm’s erroneous sales policy or to market changes.

How does the break up take place?
Of those asked, the break up itself was viewed by most as fairly simple. All sales people who had a valid contract were dismissed in accordance with the rules. Many organisations have, however, tried to replace the leaving sales person before the expiration of the notice period.

Most of those surveyed said that the break left them feeling frustrated by their former employee/employer, particularly immediately after the event.

The break led to revenue losses both for the sales person and for the corporation. Whereas the sales managers or their companies had to find an appropriate replacement. The sales person had to find a new job in order to compensate for the gap in their income.

The majority of partnerships show small differences in the relationship at an early stage. Therefore it is imperative for both sides to act in a timely manner on potential conflict signals. The review showed that a lot of sales managers do not put enough effort into caring for the sales team.  

These discrepancies in perceptions of aims and goals and the description of issues finally led to the break up, revealed that managers took too little interest in the views of their sales people. Successful implementation techniques for these important points are covered in good sales management training courses.

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