The role of a sales manager

To understand what keeps salespeople with you, we need to take a close look at the role of the sales manager. This is the lowest level of management, and in many high-turnover sales systems, it is also the most stable link. Additionally, if your business is at a stage where you are the sales manager yourself, it’s important to evaluate your work from the perspective of sales organization. Moreover, many insights we gain from examining the manager’s role can easily be applied to the work of leaders at all levels of the sales organization. In the text below, I will address the manager directly. From the very beginning, we should understand and accept that all the salespeople working for you do not belong to you. You are not their owner in every sense:

• They are not “your sellers,” but rather the sellers of your company.
• They are free people, and in reality, they don’t work for you, but for “Ivanov Ltd.” or “Sidorov LLC,” making decisions that benefit them, not you.
• You yourself are not sure if you want to be with this or that person forever.

It turns out that the work of a manager can be likened to that of a person on an assembly line, where the item to be processed is people.

Understanding that each seller in your organization has a life cycle can lead to a number of interesting conclusions very quickly:

• Sooner or later, you will say goodbye to every good salesperson. It doesn’t depend on you. It’s a natural phenomenon. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t develop your people and train them. As long as a person is “on the assembly line,” they are bringing you income.
• If you hire an experienced employee, you immediately place them at the end of the conveyor, which means their working time for you is reduced.
• If you have a salesperson who has been working much longer than the others, it’s worth taking a closer look at them. Are they successful? Why aren’t they growing, and why aren’t they losing motivation? What keeps them on the assembly line? If these are positive factors, you should consider where to find more people like them. If they are negative factors, it might be worth addressing the situation. Of course, there are people for whom their current position is the limit of their growth. However, you should think about who will bring you more money: a rising star or a mediocre performer. Naturally, hiring “mediocre” employees can save you effort in recruiting, but your business results will likely reflect that.
• If you’ve decided to handle sales yourself, thereby neglecting recruitment (putting people on the conveyor) and training (promoting people along the conveyor), your team will quickly fall apart. It will simply dissolve.

From a recruiting perspective, all your work is like inflating a balloon that keeps deflating. Don’t expect stability. Stability is death.

Control

The third essential component of a manager’s work is control. This is probably the key element of the product that the manager provides to their salespeople.

It is very important to understand that the word “control” should not be interpreted as the work done by a guard in a concentration camp, occasionally shining a spotlight on the barbed wire fence. Yes, the word “контроль” (control) has been in the Russian language for a long time, borrowed from French, and originally meant “inspection.” However, in the 20th century, scientific thought in the field of management primarily came from English-speaking countries, where the English word “control” means “management.” Therefore, we will understand it in the sense of “management.” Otherwise, if we cannot influence something, why should we check its status? This leads to a very important idea: checking something makes sense only when we can:

• to be sure that this is true
• react depending on the results of the inspection
• check again after responding

Based on the idea of control “one step down,” the manager should monitor the clients of the salespeople to help them be more effective.

So, the manager needs to know:

• which contracts are active,
• which require re-conclusion,
• which contracts are expected to receive the next payment,
• which clients require regular maintenance this month,
• Which existing clients should the salesperson visit this month?

The manager should also know:

• Who will the salesperson be communicating with among future clients, and who are they?
• Does the activity of the sellers overlap?
• What are the chances of closing a deal with each client?
• when is the deal expected to close,
• What sources for finding new clients will the salesperson use and what are they currently using, etc.?

Accordingly, based on this, we need to create reporting forms for the salespeople and explain to them that their reports are primarily needed so that the manager can assist them in their work. This assistance should be genuine. By using the sales reports, the manager will plan their schedule to attend the salesperson’s meetings with clients, conduct training sessions, organize experience-sharing sessions, and recognize successful and promising individuals in general meetings. It is important that the reporting forms always compare planned activities with actual results, so that the salesperson can adjust their efforts for the next period. Additionally, it is crucial that the report forms contain only important, critical information, which can be discussed during regular one-on-one meetings with the salesperson to understand how they are doing and the details of their activities. For example:

Let’s imagine that we are attending a meeting between the manager and the salesperson, which takes place at the end of week 37. The salesperson and the manager are together creating a plan for the upcoming week. The fact of week 38 is shown in gray because we know what will happen next week, but the salesperson and the manager do not. The salesperson will enter the figures for that week before their next weekly meeting.

Let’s assume the manager noticed that the salesperson had planned to make 40 new calls to secure two new contracts. In reality, the number of calls made was almost half that, but the return on those calls in terms of initial meetings was better.

The manager praised the salesperson for their success and asked how the meetings went and what was noteworthy about them. He requested permission from the salesperson to assign a newcomer to work on the skill of scheduling meetings over the phone, and later, he made sure to highlight this achievement at the general meeting. The manager’s recommendation was to make 35 calls next week instead of 40. Ideally, 35 calls were expected to result in 8 initial meetings.

The seller was also counting on 4 follow-up meetings. After discussing with the manager, it became clear that the seller was not making progress during the first meetings, and they were ending in delays. This aspect was addressed in a joint role-playing exercise, and the seller planned to have the same 4 follow-up meetings the following week, as the first meetings had already taken place the previous week and there was nothing that could be changed. However, he ended up with 5 follow-up meetings. The fifth meeting came from a new contact made that week because the seller confidently applied the closing technique from the first meeting. Naturally, the manager will highlight this success in the next meeting.

At the end of the meeting, the manager and the salesperson discussed why they were unable to make the required number of regular visits and which specific client was affected. The salesperson cited a lack of time as the reason. He also mentioned that he couldn’t make all 40 calls due to time constraints. After analyzing the salesperson’s activity, it turned out that the average meeting between the agent and a client lasts over two hours, and the salesperson was planning his movements around the city quite inefficiently. After receiving recommendations, the salesperson was able to optimize his work and manage to serve existing clients while also making the planned number of calls.

This example illustrates how and why a manager uses reporting forms. The manager doesn’t scold the salesperson or lecture them; instead, they find out how they can help the salesperson and implement that assistance. Naturally, the salesperson appreciates the manager’s efforts, turning to them with questions as an authoritative expert. Most importantly, the salesperson loses some independence without losing their initiative. The manager, like a caring parent, knows everything and is always there to help.

The manager works with the salespeople not only in personal meetings but also during sales meetings. He presents the company’s successes in numbers and reports to them about the common issues he has identified and his proposed solutions. During the meeting, the manager recognizes the top performers, asks about any administrative and resource-related problems or inconveniences, so they can be addressed by the next meeting. He also gives the salespeople time to play the role of hunters from the painting “Hunters at Rest” by Perov, allowing them to showcase their findings and achievements. He solicits their opinions on business development and other related topics.

We always say that training and supervision are the only things a manager truly provides to salespeople, and now we are seeing how this plays out in practice. Do you think salespeople will even want to look for job openings on job search websites if they work in such a team? Will they have the time to do it? Do they go to work with joy? Is their manager welcoming them with a smile every day? And do you know what the worst punishment for them is? Simply a lack of attention.

As we said, control is management. The efforts of salespeople, even when properly directed, need to be optimized. For example, it’s unlikely that a salesperson should spend a lot of time on a “promising” client that is a mega-corporation. Elephant hunters often starve. On the other hand, there are times when a salesperson chases a bunch of small contracts, engaging in a flurry of activity, but in reality, they are simply unable to earn more because they don’t have time for substantial deals. Such extreme activities should be analyzed more deeply. It is quite possible that the salesperson has issues with confidence in their abilities. In the case of elephant hunting, there is a clear sublimation, while in the case of chasing small deals, the salesperson is just afraid to pursue larger transactions.

Seller Development Plan

An excellent management tool is a document that a manager can use as a daily action plan for new salespeople joining their team. If the influx of recruits is small, it makes sense to create a separate plan for each salesperson, with both the manager and the salesperson participating in its development. If your business involves bringing in one newcomer per week, you should consider formalizing such a plan. What is the essence of this plan? The newcomer lacks information about what they should do tomorrow, the day after, and throughout the week. If you remember your last experience starting a new job, you might recall some awkwardness in the first few days due to not knowing what you should be doing. It’s much easier in school or university, where there is a class schedule right from the start. To ensure that the new salesperson feels just as welcomed, a similar schedule needs to be created for them.

Also, the new seller doesn’t yet know what the performance standards are and what they should be aiming for. So, in the plan, it’s important to program success right from the start and to write something like: 10th day of work – first deal.

The training that the salesperson must undergo and the skills they need to acquire should also be included in this plan. If they are unsure whether they have acquired these skills, they should report this to the manager.

Supercontrol

Control is an important task, but one should not abuse it.

The human mind is capable of inventing the most conceivable and inconceivable ways of deception and dishonest behavior. At the same time, in our technological 21st century, almost any voyeuristic dream can be realized. There are programs that monitor what employees do on their computers. There are solutions that allow for the recording of conversations and messages on corporate smartphones. Printouts of incoming and outgoing calls are available. You can install cameras and microphones at every workstation and possibly even in the café next to the office. You will be inundated with a stream of information that you may not even be able to process.

However, think about it: if you need information about one of your employees, it already gives you a reason to doubt their honesty.

Trust is a very delicate and mutual state. It is always reciprocal. You cannot trust someone who does not trust you. Reasonable couples never go through each other’s personal correspondence simply because there may be things in that correspondence that they shouldn’t know. And not because one partner is being dishonest. There are situations where it is unnecessary to make your loved one worry and feel anxious without a good reason.

As long as you trust your employee, there’s no point in keeping an eye on them. However, if you’ve lost that trust, then there’s no reason to keep them in your company. If you want to gather “evidence” of an employee’s disloyalty, you’re just wasting your time and energy. What if you don’t find any? Does that mean they are loyal, or does it just mean they haven’t been caught?

If a sly salesperson has sold you an employee monitoring system, make the results of that monitoring public. This way, everyone can see what everyone else is doing. It won’t have the negative connotations of surveillance, but it will encourage employees to maintain certain standards, for example, in their business correspondence.

On the other hand, it’s important to understand that people come to work and spend a significant part of their lives there. It’s impossible to work effectively without relaxing from time to time. When people join your company, they want to enjoy their work, not feel like they’re doing hard labor without ever looking up. Why should they be forbidden from flirting, occasionally browsing the internet, or playing a simple game for 15 minutes? If you’re interested in results, ask for results.

Always remember that the main motivation for work is in the mind. If a person wants to be lazy, they will be lazy; if they want to work, they will work. If they want to do something dishonest, they will do it.

Excessive control also leads to a decrease in responsibility and initiative. When planning your subordinates’ time, it’s important to allocate a significant portion for work that doesn’t require reporting, but where results should be demonstrated, say, once a month or once a quarter. Independent work is a great generator of innovative discoveries in business; it encourages people to think for themselves and is, at the same time, productive. People appreciate being trusted, and the return on such work can exceed all your expectations.

You should pay close attention to the administrative prohibitions you impose on your sellers. If you cannot control the enforcement of these prohibitions, you need to think carefully about whether to implement them at all. By allowing a seller to “lie once,” you may miss the moment when they start to deceive in almost everything. For example, you might issue a directive explicitly prohibiting managers from making their own sales. But consider whether, given the size of your sales organization, you will be able to monitor whether managers continue to sell by simply recording sales under the name of a relative they’ve taken on as a new seller. If you can’t, then don’t issue explicit prohibitions; instead, just avoid incentivizing such behavior.

When you manage salespeople and your team is performing exceptionally well, there will inevitably be “stars” among them. While these will be the least manageable members of your team, you shouldn’t try to dim their shine. If you decide to get a dog to guard your yard, be prepared for that dog to bark a lot. Learn to manage them, learn to channel their energy in a positive direction. What exactly should you do for this? They need to “sell” your ideas before you set out to implement them.

Social activity

A very positively perceived management tool is organizing social activities within your sales team. First of all, it really frees people up and allows them to feel useful. Their self-confidence and the knowledge that they are making a difference are very beneficial when interacting with clients. Secondly, each of us dreams of doing something good, but not everyone is ready to think about how and when to do it. Suggest the idea of doing good to your team, hold a brainstorming session at your weekly meeting, and choose the best idea: from painting a playground in bright new colors to raising money for renovating a bathroom in an orphanage. Let your salespeople choose a leader for this project among themselves, who will organize the preparations for the event. There are countless ways to express oneself. Your involvement is also important, so there’s no need to formalize it as a mandatory event. Allow people to spend half of their workday on such a meaningful activity, especially during times when sales are not expected.

The role of a manager

I am very concerned that it might seem like a “buddy-buddy” style of leadership is being practiced here. Absolutely not. There should be a distance, and it must be maintained. However, this should not manifest in artificial behaviors, such as addressing you formally by your first and patronymic names or referring to oneself in the third person plural and by job title (we, the General Director, have decided…). Distance is established independently of you and your subordinates when the flow of benefit from you to your subordinates exceeds the flow of benefit from them to you. Think about why children listen to and respect their parents. You must never pander to the people who work for you. They do not love you, or if they do, it is only because you are their boss. They work primarily for themselves, not for you. And if they are working for your company, it means you have managed to link their personal success with the success of the company and their personal problems with the company’s problems. You should not place bets or pin hopes on specific individuals—there are no irreplaceable people. Treachery and deceit will always accompany you in life, just as loyalty and integrity will. You must not create favorites or outcasts. You should not even think about calling anyone to action or using any slogans.

If you are the owner of a stable and wash your horses every morning, bring them food, and monitor their health, then you are still the owner of the stable, not a hotel maid. Although it may seem from the outside that your work is less appealing—after all, a maid shouldn’t have to clean up feces off the floor every day. If your horse falls ill, it looks to you for help. If you don’t know the illness, call a doctor. If you were to shoot every horse that stumbled, you wouldn’t have any left. The same goes for sales organizations; the most “wise” instruction you can give to a salesperson who has lost their former enthusiasm is: “Sell more!” They already know that; the question is how to do it. Your team is always waiting for that answer from you. And you or the external consultant you hired should know the answer to that question personally.

Every employee plays a certain “role” in your team. By understanding their role, you can anticipate their next steps without having to install cameras in the locker room. A person might act as a principled truth-teller at work, for example. However, what’s really going on in their mind may remain a mystery to you. It’s important to know what role they occupy in the play called “your company” and to understand them within that role. Naturally, people tend to gravitate towards their “own” roles. However, if the role of the “fool” is already taken, and the only remaining option is the “hero-lover,” the new employee—who is a “fool”—will either find an unoccupied role or contest their right to the already occupied one. This will leave the former “fool” with the choice of a new role, and so on. After some initial turmoil related to people shifting within their roles, the team will eventually return to normal. During this time, when there are individuals in the team whose roles are undefined, unpredictable and unexpected behaviors may arise. A lost “tragic” figure might try to take on the role of a “schemer,” for instance. Conversely, if others see that the role of the “tragic” character is already filled, they might attempt to impose a role on the person without a defined role, interpreting their behavior based on these subconscious assumptions.

What role should you have?

To begin with, we need to understand the fundamental principle that each person is driven by certain pairs of forces pulling them in one direction or another. Depending on how these forces are applied, the roles of individuals within a group are primarily shaped.

There can be many pairs of forces, for example, there are the forces of: Actor vs. Audience (Everyone desires the attention of those around them while also wanting to observe others), Greedy vs. Generous (Depending on the circumstances, everyone is ready to share what they have, yet at the same time, they will not give up something important to themselves for anything), and so on. However, from the perspective of labor productivity, as Kras Boklandt pointed out, two pairs of forces are particularly important:

The first pair of forces: Independence and Sociality. Every person wants to feel like an individual in relation to others. Everyone has their own personal goals and achievements that highlight their uniqueness. Each person strives to maintain their connections with the surrounding world at a certain level, so they can have a personal life, and at times, everyone wants to be alone. At the same time, everyone wants to assess their position in relation to other people. People also feel the need to help those around them achieve their goals and derive satisfaction from it. Both forces work against each other while also supporting one another. You cannot be part of society without being an independent member of it. However, to be independent, you must be able to accept or reject the opinions or judgments of others, or even their help, at your discretion. On the other hand, any social activity requires, to some extent, distancing oneself from personal interests and desires, accepting help from others, or providing assistance to them.

The second pair of forces: Leadership and followership. Every person has two simultaneous desires: to lead others and to be led. We all want to showcase our knowledge, skills, understanding of the issue, and personal involvement in the matter to others. At the same time, we need the knowledge and skills of other people. Their support and their understanding of where to go next are essential. Even those individuals whose personalities are completely focused on leading others, as well as those who feel most comfortable when told what to do, sometimes secretly wish to be led themselves, just as they may also want to lead others. However, these desires are often quite hidden from those around them.

The balance of these two pairs of forces defines the roles within the team. According to Cuvelier, we have the following six roles:

· Social + Follower = “Receives.” Here we see people who yield initiative, follow the chosen direction, and carry out instructions.

· Independent + Leader = “Attacks.” This group consists of those who criticize, demand change, and aspire to leadership.

· Independent + Sequential = “Resists.” This includes those who reject any offers, say “no,” and become disconnected from the group.

· Independent/Social + Leader = “Closes off.” This is where those who no longer want to give or receive are found. People who rely solely on themselves for their own development.

· Independent/Social + Sequential = “Letting things take their course.” This refers to those who allow external events to dictate their actions, without participating in decision-making or taking on any responsibility.

In any lively and productive team, roles are filled by people, and individuals understand the “zone” in which a particular person operates when making decisions. Additionally, in such teams, members have considerable freedom in choosing their roles and can even switch roles depending on the circumstances or tasks at hand.

However, there are ineffective teams where certain roles are “closed” or considered “taboo.” For example, “resistance” or “attack” may be prohibited. The inefficiency of such teams arises from the fact that people’s natural inclinations will manifest themselves despite the prohibitions, leading to unpleasant distortions in the overall picture.

Additionally, the team’s effectiveness declines if several people are in the same role and cannot (or do not want to) leave it. Since changes in any one role immediately affect the other roles, either strengthening or weakening them, one person can impact the overall effectiveness of the team.

It is already becoming clear what role the sales team manager should take on. This is the role of a “giver,” as has been mentioned several times in this article.

Interestingly, if the roles within a team are somehow “frozen” and there is a lack of dynamics, the behavior of team members may exhibit extreme or even pathological traits. Such phenomena are quite typical, for example, among participants in polar expeditions:

• he who “gives” becomes a dictator
• He who “takes” becomes a slave.
• the one who “resists” starts to sabotage
• he who “attacks” destroys
• Those who “let things slide” will face the destruction of their identity.
• The one who “closes off” becomes unavailable.

Self-control

In a manager’s work, this is the most challenging task. The thing is that the human evaluation system operates not based on the assessment of a state, but on the assessment of changes in that state. This has been the case since the times of dinosaurs and frogs, which can only see stationary objects. A silhouette in the dim light means nothing until it changes in size, that is, approaches or moves away. We all notice that we stop perceiving a smell when it constantly surrounds us; we get used to both darkness and daylight, even though the process of changing light levels is quite unpleasant for us. We feel love simply because our feelings grow stronger each day. When this constant intensification fades, we feel as if we are no longer in love. However, in reality, we love just as deeply. Our life experience tells us that parting with a partner has always been a source of stress, even if it seemed that love had faded. In other words, a former loved one was, in some way, dear to us. Thus, a person is generally unable to evaluate themselves. Their changes in relation to their “yesterday’s” self are hardly noticeable and can only be seen from the outside. To control the standards of our behavior, we either need to rely on an external controller or keep a certain “ideal” in mind. As V.V. Mayakovsky wrote: “I clean myself under Lenin to sail further into the Revolution!” In childhood and youth, parents often served as that ideal. Consciously or unconsciously, we relied on their experience, their image, their recommendations. Some of us were lucky enough to have a Teacher, which allowed us to develop beyond our parents’ experience. Even more rarely, we encounter a Teacher at the next stage. And at the next one. Managers in large companies are also fortunate—there is almost always someone above them who guides them and serves as a role model. Those who work in close-knit teams are also lucky; everyone serves as a role model for each other, and after a while, each team member behaves as expected by the others. The worst off are those who have no such ideal, who stand alone at the top and must rely solely on themselves. There is no one to evaluate the correctness of their thoughts and actions, and they have no one to consult, even mentally. Such people, as I mentioned earlier, need an external consultant. Just as every athlete, even a superstar, needs a coach, who, as a rule, has long since forgotten how to play football.

We have already figured out what service the manager provides to the sellers. However, the manager themselves needs the same service, and it’s beneficial if they work in a large organization with a higher-level manager who understands the essence of their work well. But if there is no such manager, they either have to “navigate” on their own or constantly consult with someone, even if it’s just their spouse. It would be great if the spouse has some understanding of business.

However, we are discussing self-control here, and one of its most important components is managing your own time. Any manager who complains about a lack of time is primarily disorganized. Stalin, Roosevelt, de Gaulle, Einstein, Bill Gates, and Freddie Mercury all had enough time not only for work but also for leisure. Yes, they worked hard, yes, they managed vast nations during turbulent times, or created timeless music, or were brilliant scientists and entrepreneurs. However, you are not managing a country, are you? This means you should have enough time. There are many books on time management in the world. It’s worth familiarizing yourself with this concept for effective time management. The methods outlined in these books can sometimes be contradictory, but they all emphasize the need to constantly monitor:

• task list
• goal setting and
• prioritization

The applicability of a particular time management technique often depends on the subjective assessment of the work itself. For example, I participated in an informatics Olympiad and took second place because I simply ran out of time to solve one relatively easy problem. I tackled the problems one after another, spending the most time on the most difficult one, which was also the most interesting. I thought that the complex problem should be solved first, and then I would tackle the easier ones with the remaining time. After the Olympiad, my teacher pointed out that what ultimately matters is what is written on paper. And on paper, I had a poorly and ambiguously solved complex problem and an unsolved easy one. Fortunately, I was the only one who solved that complex problem, which is why I managed to take second place. Everyone else also solved 4 out of 5 problems but did not solve the complex one. The first place went to the person who solved all the problems. If I had followed my teacher’s advice, I would have been among the rest.

A similar situation can be found in the field of management. There will always be high-priority tasks that need to be completed, but that doesn’t mean life should come to a halt, and you should lock yourself in your office to tackle these tasks. No one knows what incoming information might change your perspective on priorities, and it won’t hurt you if, while working on a major task, you take a moment to look up and answer a simple question from a colleague. Even in the ideas that computers operate on, there is a concept of “interrupts.” This is when the processor stops, saves all current data to a stack, switches to address another task, and then, after completing it, returns to its previous work. For example, no matter what the processor is busy with, if you press any key on the keyboard, it will stop, assess what you pressed, process the input, and then continue executing the previous program.

From the perspective of prioritization, a manager needs to understand which tasks require more attention: recruiting or training, training or supervision, depending on the current state of the sales team. Therefore, when planning their work week, they should allocate time for each type of task accordingly.

Goals can be short-term, medium-term, or long-term. For example, knowing your performance in recruiting and allocating 6 hours this week for conducting recruitment interviews based on priorities, you can set a goal for the number of interviews conducted or, more importantly, the number of new recruits. It’s important to understand that goals are interconnected: the number of contacts with recruits leads to the number of interviews, which leads to the number of suitable candidates, which in turn leads to the expected number of new agents. Medium-term goals cannot be achieved in a single day. Medium-term goals always have stages, each with its own objectives. Long-term goals, on the other hand, are typically strategic and do not yield immediate results. For instance, the goal of “completing English courses with excellent grades this year” is a long-term goal because you will take the courses to save on translation services later. However, the actual savings, in monetary terms, will only become noticeable after a year or two. Additionally, goals can be categorized as “continuous” or “one-time.” An example of a continuous goal is arriving at work by 9 AM every day.

We already mentioned the task list when we showed the approximate work plan for the salesperson. The manager should have a similar plan, with separate columns for actual results and targets. The tasks are just a bit different, and the units of measurement are often binary—“yes” or “no.” Just like the salesperson, the manager should have a weekly plan, similar to a school diary, where they outline their priorities for the upcoming week and set goals. It’s important to review the goals at the end of the week against the actual results to adjust plans for the following week.

Without planning your work and self-control, you might be able to run a business. However, remember the parable of the fly that keeps banging against the glass. Just because you’re managing somehow doesn’t mean you can’t use simple techniques to turn “it’s working” into “everything is great.”

Documents

The last element of control here, but not the least important, is the documents that regulate the work of the sellers.

Typically, if your salespeople work on a commission basis, your relationship with them (or the relationship between the employer and them) is governed by a contract. Such a contract is essential. It should clearly outline the rights and obligations of both parties, the duration and conditions for termination, liability, and the details of both parties, as well as the method and timing of payment under the contract. The more details are included, the better. However, this can make the contract quite cumbersome. Additionally, there may be a need to change certain terms of the contract from time to time. The more extensive the contract, the greater the likelihood that you will need to collect contracts from all salespeople and have them re-signed in the near future. Furthermore, you will need to re-sign the contract with a salesperson if they are promoted. As the company grows, the reporting forms for salespeople will also evolve, and those samples will need to be incorporated into the contract. This process is quite labor-intensive, and most importantly, it can be optimized.

To simplify your life both now and in the future, it is advisable to develop a practically one-page contract at the very early stages of your company’s development. This contract should reference a larger internal document that outlines all the rules and procedures established within your firm. It will also detail compensation, responsibilities, the process for entering into and terminating contracts, career advancement rules, and so on. If you need to announce a competition or a motivational campaign, legally, all you will need to do is amend this overarching document. Of course, all changes must be agreed upon with the sellers, and it should be stated in the contract with the seller that they must consent to changes in the larger document. However, collecting signatures to agree to the new version of the document is much easier than reissuing all contracts with sellers, assigning new contract numbers, retrieving old contracts, etc. The collection of signatures can also be organized easily and automatically. You just need to indicate on the work completion acts, which sellers sign once a month, that by signing the act, the seller agrees to the new version of the overarching document.

Such simplification of working with contracts is only possible if the sellers trust you and understand the purpose behind it. Additionally, sellers must grasp the fundamental truth: No one kills the goose that lays the golden eggs, and even the most elaborate contract won’t save a slacker.

In one form or another, and possibly as part of a larger document, there should be job descriptions for salespeople. It’s possible that you don’t hire them as full-time employees and that their only job will be to sell. However, such descriptions are important for both the manager and the salesperson to understand the salesperson’s responsibilities and authority.

It’s not worth paying excessive attention to various forms, instructions, and documents. Any document should be a help, not a burden. There’s no need to formalize things that are self-evident or waste time on their implementation and approval. You can never create complete “foolproof” measures, as foolishness is as limitless as the universe.

Here’s a live example of how not to do things: In one organization, they decided to formalize the rules for using the phone, creating a mega-instruction that was approved by all departments, from legal to accounting, and adopted by the Board. All this fuss was created to explain to employees that mobile phones should be called from mobile phones, not landlines, and that if the established limit is exceeded, the excess amount would be deducted from their salary. However, in practice, it turned out that sometimes it is indeed convenient to call from a landline, and sometimes, if the spending limit has been exhausted, deducting the excess from the salary is inappropriate, as the person was speaking on business. Moreover, Ukrainian labor legislation explicitly prohibits any automatic “deductions” from salaries. It would have been much better to explain the obvious principles to employees at a general meeting and, if necessary, simply set technical limits on exceeding communication budgets, as mobile operators offer such services.

Conclusions:

1. Good salespeople are constantly growing individuals. One should not expect that

2. Control involves both monitoring and management. Otherwise, why check if you can’t take action?

The sales manager monitors the salespeople’s clients, managing the salespeople just as a driver keeps an eye on the road while driving a car.

4. Reporting should primarily be useful for the salespeople, not the manager.

5. The format of the plan and the format of the report are the same, in which the plan is always compared to the actual results.

6. The manager, discussing the sales report with the salesperson, helps the manager improve.

7. The manager optimizes the seller’s efforts.

8. The newcomer development plan is a good formal management tool.

9. The only thing worse than a lack of control is excessive control.

10. Let’s give people time for independent creative work.

11. Any prohibitions and restrictions should not be imposed but rather “sold” so that people understand their importance on their own.

12. Star control is a separate aspect of the work.

13. Take the initiative in social activities and charity to strengthen your team.

In every team, there are “cells” for performers of various roles. People occupy these cells based on personal preferences and by chance.

15. It’s important for you to understand the dynamics of the team and to take your place as a leader and a person who “gives” rather than “takes.”

16. If there is no higher level, then the only way for a manager to maintain control is through self-regulation.

An important component of self-control is the constant management of one’s time and planning of activities based on priorities, goals, and the resulting task lists.

18. Documentation is something that no manager can do without.

19. Documentation should not hinder work; it should assist it. One should critically assess the necessity of having certain instructions.

20. The procedure for changing rules and documentation should be easy and painless.