RELENTLESS RADIO

 

Author:	Sean Luce
Published:	August, 2000

 

If you want to micro-manage people, sign up as an aid at Children's World. Remember, you're not running a day care center. One of the most famous lines uttered in the movie Casablanca was "round up the usual suspects." When things are going wrong in the sales department it's usually because we as sales managers are to blame. Lack of skilled talent, training, and process systems are to blame and the blame in the end falls on us as managers. Period! If you have to pull out the microscope on your top people, then either you are carrying a Napoleonic complex or you have the wrong people. Senior reps should always be held to higher standards than the rookies. Standards will fall if your top people are not setting the standard. With new sales reps, you will have to micro-manage to a certain level, namely, monitoring their daily activity either with Daily Call Reports or short end-of-day recaps. With the rest of the staff, we need to manage productivity. Here are four steps to take the micro out and put the macro into your management process. 1. Weekly Planners: You should be proactive not reactive. There's not much you can do after the call, but there's a heck of a lot you can do before the call. Weekly planners allow you to help and spend quality time in planning (the number one deficiency of sales reps) on an "Individual Needs" analysis. (For a copy of this work plan, please e-mail at the address below.) 2. Account Management System: 95% of radio stations in America do not have any kind of account management systems in place to monitor and track strategically their top 100 accounts. Do you think Cisco, UPS, or FED EX manage their accounts like radio stations? NO! They have in place a systematic way of taking small accounts and making them big accounts. Whatever system you use, just make sure you use it. This is a sure fire way of keeping accounts from falling through the cracks. 3. In-Field Coaching: Are you managing your team from behind the big oak desk, or out in the field to really see how your reps are performing? If you're not coaching in the field, you're not leading. Sales reps' skill attainment comes from good curbside coaching in the field. 4. PQ Leadership: This is the Pride Quotient. Do your reps love what they are doing? More importantly, are you fostering an atmosphere of fun and excitement? Never forget to give the Kudos to your people when deserved. Money motivates, however, recognition and rewards are right there with the big dollars. Recognize the small wins! It will pay big dividends later. Don't complicate your life anymore than what's already there. Keep it simple. Here's the Management Magnificent Seven: 1. Hire people better than you  2. Give them superior training  3. Offer them upward mobility  4. Create a fun and rewarding environment  5. Reward success  6. Execute your systems process  7. Know what makes your people tick  And add one more for good measure: Deliver on your promises, and you'll tick a lot quicker to your sales goals!