Question

Topic: Other

Sales Manager's Opinions Are Causing Problems

Posted by Anonymous on 4/19/2005 at 12:43 PM ET 300 Points
I'd like to request some different perspectives from you all...

A little background

I am consulting for a sales firm that has a sales manager looking after a small team of sales executives. Mr S has expressed opinions which go against company policy and procedures, which he is familiar with and within contracts, that are now affecting the sales and other members of staff.

The fact that one of his sales staff broke a company policy, through their own admission, has lead to Mr S expressing his opinion on the company policy, regarding a penalty, as being unfair & excessive, has caused further disruption for the sales execs who are now accusing the company of unfair behaviour.

This has obviously not gone down very well with the directors.

Question: This sales manager is usually OK but he continues to undermine company policy with his personal comments and opinions, what can the company do about it and what can the company do to help resolve his 'self' opinions?

Your help is appreciated.

Thanks.

Zahid Adil
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 4/19/2005 at 5:55 PM Accepted
    Hmm, slight different thoughts here - I would first look at what Mr. S is doing that are against the rules, try to understands why he is doing them, and what the business impacts are. What I am looking for is if this is a case where the company is more concerned about the rules than what is right for the business.

    For example, McDonalds a long time ago had a rule saying the franchise restaurants would be open for lunch and dinner only. One franchisee decided to open for breakfast and McDonalds tried to stop them. Thankfully for McDonalds, their process was slow and the franchisee proved to be on to a growth revenue path, so now all McDonalds restaurants offer breakfast.

    Perhaps this is not the case and the action should be stopped, but it is always good to think about the true business impact before taking action.

    This not always easy to do, because often the folks in the company feel wronged by what Mr. S did, so are not fully open minded.
  • Posted by telemoxie on 4/21/2005 at 11:18 PM Accepted
    What did this fellow do that was so terrible, anyway?

    In my years in sales, I have always tried to follow corporate policies, procedures, and guidelines. In every job I have ever had, those procedures have had problems in real world situations. Top salespeople often pay lip service to procedures - then they do what they need to do to get the order and to satisfy the customer.

    One of the key roles of a salesperson is to "grease the skids" so that orders can come in. In the absence of specific information about what this "monster" did to get the order, I will assume that he broke some insignificant rule written long ago by an out of the loop manager. If so, the salesperson did just what he was expected to do - he got the order.

    ... and the manager did just what he should do, which is to back up the fellow in the field getting the order.

    ... and the board of directors did exactly what they should do, which is to lobby for consistent policies and procedures.

    What did this "monster" do? Did he sign a letter in blue ink as opposed to black ink? Did he wear the wrong color tie? Was he using a powerpoint presentation with the "old" logo?

    In the absence of specific info, how can folks on this board call for this fellow's termination?
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