I'm hiring a new salesperson at one of my companies, and the most popular question in the interview process thus far is "How much support do your salespeople get?"
That's right. Not "How much commission do I make?" or "What are the opportunities for advancement?" but how much support do I give a salesperson, day-to-day.
In my opinion, this question stems from the (justified) fear that most salespeople have that as soon as they finish whatever "training" a company offers, they'll be thrown to the wolves, never to see or speak to their sales manager again. Questions about products or services? Figure it out yourself. Don't know how to identify a good lead? Here's the phone book, kid. Good luck.
And, let's be honest, this isn't a problem for just sales teams. Lots of teams need more support than their managers are giving, either because their managers are overworked, or because they've never been trained themselves in how to manage a team.
The best managers exist for support and guidance, with the occasional administrative task or HR process they have to do. MOST managers, however, reverse those ratios and end up with disconnected, lost teams.
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