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What to Do in Your First Three Months as the New Sales Manager
Even if you have been lucky enough to receive management training, the first few months in any new managerial position can be daunting at the best of times. But for the newely appointed Sales Manager, what they do in the initial three months in their new position is not only daunting but also critical to their future success. How you manage these early days will determine how you as the Sales Manager will cope later on with your new employees, colleagues and superiors.
It is highly advisable to assume that you may not be welcomed by everyone with open arms. Indeed,there will be people who initially observe you in a critical light. You could have to deal with employee anxiety, envious colleagues who attended the same management training as you but who have not been promoted,as well as possible resentment from colleagues in other departments.
Every action you take and every decision you make will be subject to scrutiny and the rumour mill will be rife. The following tips will help you make the transition into your new role easier.
Do not rush into anything. You need to gain an overview of the sales situation as quickly as possible but do so in a systematic manner by dividing your first three months into an “orientation”, a “concept” and a “profiling” phase.
The first phase in your new job is the orientation phase, and it will probably last about four weeks. Spend as much of these first four weeks as you can out of the office and not in the company building. Use the time to accompany your new team on client visits for half days or longer and having a personal chat with each of your sales people to get to know them. Set the following goal for yourself in this first phase: to listen, take on board the problems encountered by your sales people and gain impressions of the market and your clients.
To maintain your credibility do not give your point of view on any decisions your predecessor may have made. You should appear interested when such matters are raised, but remain reserved.
Also, during your first month, avoid making any decisions that go beyond your day-to-day responsibilities. Defer making far-reaching decisions until later.
The second month in the job is the concept phase. Most of this second month will be spent at your desk drawing up a list outlining the problems you noticed during your first four weeksand drafting a rough concept for your future sales strategy and sales policy. This concept would include, for example, the competitive situation, sales routes, condition policy, offer programme, area structure, management of the external sales department and sales promotion. To expand your information, have discussions with key customers, large-scale buyers and colleagues – such as the Head of Marketing, the Production Manager, the Head of Logistics, etc. I this time limit your contact with the sales team to telephone conversations. Do not forget to constantly discuss your thoughts and ideas with the company management.
Your third month in the job is the Profiling phase. This is when you to show your “profile” and discuss the concept phase in detail with the company management, explain your goals and set priorities jointly to secure moral support. You should also inform your colleagues in other departments of your plans and intentions so you can agree the “ground rules” for future co-operation and re-assure your department colleagues of your willingness to co-operate. In this time you should also organise a team briefing with your sales force. You will need to inform your sales people of your conclusions from observations made during client visits and tell the sales team about the goals you have set and your expectations of them. In the meeting make sure you spend time answering any questions they might have and let them know about any pending decisions or any decisions you have already made.
If you adhere to the above three month action plan it will set you up for success. If, however, you feel you need a bit more support - as many new sales managers do - you can always attend our specialist sales force management training course. This will help you build the specialist skills needed to do one of the toughest management jobs around – managing the sales team.
