What is my job?
When I first moved into sales management, I vividly remember sitting down with my Director and asking him, "OK, so what is my job? Where should I focus? What should my calendar look like?"
He looked at me and said, "That.. is the job."
I was confused and a little anxious. I had wanted to move into management for about a year, and I was a clear leader on the sales floor. I was a natural fit for sales leadership. But once I got the job, when it came time to fill 10 hours a day with activities that would ensure my team beat its number, I was at a loss. Couldn't he tell me what to do?
As it turns out, most sales managers struggle with this question. The list of potential activities is long: coaching your team, reviewing deals and pipeline metrics, 1:1s, team meetings, admin work, communicating with Ops and Customer Success, putting out fires, interviewing, and sales training. All in, there are much more than 50 hours of work per week in front of each sales manager.
You can't take on everything.
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So here is my advice.
Instead of only focusing on the number in front of you and the short-term activities that can fill your day. Here is a three-step process that will enable you to be proactive vs. reactive in how you spend your time.
1) Picture what a high-performing team looks like, not just any high-performing team. Your team, with your current roster, selling your product in this market with you at the helm, beating the number, working hard, and having fun. What does that team look like? Write it down. Let's call them the "A" team.
2) Where are the gaps between your current team and the "A" team? Ask yourself these questions and write down the answers.
What gaps exist for each team member in their performance and development?
What are the gaps in your management and leadership— your skills, presence, and approach?
What are the gaps in your team's culture, standards of performance, and environment? How does the "A" team lift each other up and push one another vs. what you see on your team today?
Review those gaps. They should be tangible things. For example, the performance of 1-2 individuals, the team's expectations for itself, the presence you have in 1:1s.
Ask yourself— which gaps, once closed and improvements once made, will have the most significant impact and bring us closer to becoming the "A" team?
These are your needle movers. Prioritize them.
3) Now, review your biggest needle movers. For each one, write down what activities you will take, as a leader, to make progress and positively impact them. In some cases, you can have a significant impact. In other cases, if a needle mover involves the development of a person on the team, you can identify it and partner with the person in improving it. But ultimately they will need to take ownership.
Building the “A” team is a team effort, but only you, as the leader, can shine a light on the path.
The goal of this exercise is to become proactive with your time. The outcome is resetting your calendar to ensure you are focusing on the action items → that will impact the needle movers → that will build the “A” team.
Stop reacting. Start leading. It all begins with how you invest your time.