The following is a guest post by Intelligist Group advisor and catalyst, Mike Ross.
Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times, but he also hit a lot of home runs! If your sales people are not striking out, they’re probably only going after the “sure things” (aka the low hanging fruit).
Bless Mr. Manager who rides with the sales representative, is only identified as “someone who is riding with me today,” keeps absolutely quiet even if the call is a complete disaster, and lets the sales guy go down in a ball of flames.
Is it the role of the manager to save the sales call or develop a sales representative who will learn to save his own sales calls and ultimately his soul?
Answer – Develop the sales representative. After the flames have somewhat subsided, Mr. Manager conducts a post mortem over a cup of coffee, and while smiling, discusses the 3 things he did well and 3 things he might want to do differently. Then, Mr. Manager, take pride in you being recognized as a great coach and friend.
P.S. – Don’t worry about striking out. Just keep swinging the bat.