Leadership

1. Leadership Assertiveness Steps • Describe what you see going on • “We agreed you’d make 16 calls per week. You’re averaging 11.” • Describe how you feel about what is going on • “I’m puzzled, I can’t tell from your reports what you’re doing. I’m frustrated because each time we have this talk you say you will live up to your end of the agreement.”

2. Leadership Assertiveness Steps • Be precise in the change you want “One more time. I expect you to do what we’ve agreed on: an average of 16 calls per week.” • Mention the benefit of the change to the other person “Living up to our agreement is the only way I can give you a good appraisal. And you can’t afford more than one bad or mediocre appraisal

3. Leadership Coaching Situation Important Points Prior 1. Who is being called on? to 2. What happened last time? Sales 3. Objective of call? Call 4. Objections may arise? 5. How to handle objections? 6. Who are key players? 7. Developmental points last call?

4. Leadership Coaching Situation Important Points During the 1. Let salesperson control call. Sales Call 2. Answer necessary questions briefly. After 1. Ask for self-evaluation. a 2. Reinforce positive behavior. Sales 3. Suggest effective responses. Call 4. Keep records.

5. Intuition Empowerment Figure 12-1: Leadership Skills Leadership skills Value congruence Vision Self-understanding

6. Leadership Harassment Suggestions 1. Conduct yourself professionally. 2. Dress appropriately. 3. Be cautious when drinking at business functions. 4. Don’t listen to sob stories. 5. Avoid being alone when possible. 6. Use independent transportation. 7. Trust your instincts.

7. Leadership In-Class Exercise 12-1 1. How big is the problem with Xavier? What are contingency factors? 2. How will your actions and Xavier’s affect the rest of the salespeople? 3. Any problems with how the meeting with Xavier began? 4. What options do you have in handling Xavier?

8. Leadership In-Class Exercise 12-1 5. Who should own the territory -- the salesperson or the company? 6. How do you handle a veteran salesperson who believes they know more about selling their territory than you (the sales manager)? 7.. How do you get Sam to be a team player? 8. How should discipline be administered?

9. Skills Power Styles Empowerment Vision Legitimate Directing Intuition Value Congruence Coercive Coaching Self-understanding Referent Supporting Expert Delegating Sales Manager Leadership Factors in Sales Management Sales Team Activites Interaction Norms Sentiments Situation Task structure Time pressure External system Salesaperson’s behavior Salesperson Professional maturity Needs Goals Relationship with manager

10. Leadership Leadership Scenarios • “Having a Little Chat” (12-2) How could this session have been improved? • “Customer Abuse” (12-3) What is your reaction? Is this effective criticism?

11. Leadership Responsiveness Steps • What does the other person see going on? “Yes, I know I’m not making the 16 calls.” • How does the person feel about it? I’m upset. In fact, I’m furious. We’ve been having all sorts of delivery and installation problems. It seems I spend half my time on the phone with the plant straightening out problems. I’ve called you, but you always seem tied up.”

12. Leadership Responsiveness Steps • What change does the other person desire in you? “I don’t call you unless the problem is very serious. So I would like you to get back to me when I’ve got a problem that I think it serious enough to bother you with.” • What are the benefits of the change for the other person? “There are at least two. I produce better, because I have time. And the company has better customer relations, because I know that other people in the field have also experienced my kind of problem.”

13. Leadership Responsiveness How would you respond? “I know I haven’t brought in enough new business, but you must understand that my wife is not herself. I have a lot of problems.” Solution: • Your concern is not what the problems are. • Be straight and reply: “I’m sorry about your problems, but I have a problem: our agreement. I want to know how we deal with that?’ • Praise the salesman if he has solved the problem.

14. Supporting Selling Delegating Telling High Situational Leadership: Follower Maturity and Leadership Styles Supportive behavior Low Low Directive behavior High High competence, high commitment High competence, variable commitment Some competence, low commitment Low competence, high commitment High Follower maturity Low

15. DECISION OPTIONS“Hot Shot” 1) Make a sincere promise to Hot Shot that she will get the next manager's spot that opens. 2) To give Hot Shot more recognition you send her and her husband to the national sales convention with the company picking up the tab. 3) Do not let the other salespeople think you give into ultimatums. You consider the letter as a letter of resignation and let Hot Shot go. 4) Make special managerial training available to the sales group. Tell Hot Shot that when an opening becomes available her excellent sales record along with the techniques learned in the course will place her among the top applicants.

16. PROS & CONSHOT SHOT 1) Hot Shot has every reason to take your promise seriously a problem that arises if at the time a position opens you think another member of the sales team is better suited for the job. 2) Some will consider this “industry bribery”. Hot Shot could construe this to be an insult since she clearly stated that she was happy with the money and benefits she was already receiving. 3) A good sales manager is as hard to find if not harder to find than a good sales representative. If you allow Hot Shot to leave, one of your competitors will doubtless hire her immediately, leaving you with a stronger competitor and a weaker sales team. 4) Probably the best choice. You explain to Hot Shot that the criterions used to choose the next sales manager will include: sales record, group interaction, and effort put forth in seminars, workshops, home study, and night courses.

17. “Jose Guerrilla” You are the boss with the title, rank, experience,and all the accountability that comes with the job. You have the feeling that your salespeople are not following many of your orders. You wonder if you are becoming paranoid. Although you are the formal leader, an informal leader has emerged. It’s Jose Guerrilla. Deliberately or not, he has become influential, even playing amore dominant role than you. Jose is one of your top salespeople, but is behaving like an underground rebel. The group’s overall performance is quickly dropping. Is there a connection? You must correct the situation soon. You do not want to lose Jose, he is a valuable salesperson, besides you really like Jose. Ground rule #1, you have got to turn the situation around. Why did an informal leader emerge? How do you handle Jose? What can you do to prevent this from reoccurring?

18. Leadership Termination Suggestions • Establish a paper trail. • Reasons for termination should be specifically spelled out. • When possible, offer an attractive severance package and outplacement services. • The firing session should be brief. • The firing session should be held at the beginning of the week.

19. “HAVING A LITTLE CHAT” “Jennifer, I thought we’d have a little chat. I don’t get the pleasure of just talking with you very often. I guess we just tend to spend most of our time on our problems. Good people like you tend to be taken for granted. This is your sixth year with us, right? I wanted to let you know that it has been a pleasure working with you over that time. Incidentally, I was a little surprised to hear that some of your customer reports have been incomplete. Some of the clerks have even had to call some of your people in order to fill in the missing information.

20. “HAVING A LITTLE CHAT” “I told then that you’re probably so busy out there getting us so much business that you’re tired when it comes to the reports. But it would save us time and money if you could be more complete. I’m sure you’ll take better care of this in the future. That’s what gives me so much pleasure in dealing with pros like you. See a problem. Fix it. No big deal. Anyway, I know you’ll take care of it.

21. High Figure 12-2: Four Leadership Styles Supporting Selling Supportive behavior Delegating Telling Low Directive behavior Low High

22. “CUSTOMER ABUSE” One day in the office, you overhear one of your salespeople being loudly abusive to a customer over the phone. Right after he slams the phone down, you mention: “That was a pretty heated exchange. Sounds to me as if you lost it.” “Well, she’s a pain. She’s always complaining about one thing or the other, none of which is important and often not true. On top of it all, she’s rude.” “I thought you were pretty rough, telling her that if she doesn’t like how her orders are handled, she can take her business elsewhere.”

23. “CUSTOMER ABUSE” “She won’t.” “That’s not the point. We don’t get nasty with customers. Next time that happens, and you start getting hot, I want you to tell the customer that you’ll look into the problem and get back to him. Hang up. Cool down. Find out what you need to know. And then call back. Do you understand? I don’t ever want to hear a conversation like that again.”

24. Figure 12-4: Internal Systems of a Group Activities Norms Interactions Sentiments

25. DECISION OPTIONSJose Guerrilla 1) Get the group together and remind them that you are the boss. Tell them like it or not the ignoring of your orders must and will stop. 2) Take Jose aside and tell him you “appreciate” the “help” in managing the group. Tell Jose that by pulling together, you can make the situation work out right for everyone. 3) Let nature take its course. Sit back and let Jose make a big mistake that will cause him to lose favor with the group. 4) Take time to get to know Jose. When you know his career objectives you will probably find that he is not after your job. Use Jose to make your communications between yourself and the group more efficient. 5) Talk to each member of the sales team separately. Let them know that you know what is going on and that it is tantamount to insubordination.

26. PROS & CONSJOSE GUERRILLA 1) Appeals to the authoritarian manager but disregards the possibility that the problem is that your interpersonal communication skills are to blame. 2) Jose may not admit to being the guerrilla, but if he does and accepts the bribe that you offer, the possibility that another member of the group will assume the role cannot be ruled out. 3) Highly risky and puts your rear in the frying pan as well as Jose’s. 4) Jose could become a valuable link between you and your team and possibly help you define interpersonal problems and help you suggest possible solutions. 5) This solution might work with an unschooled or unskilled labor force but not with the highly productive members of your sales team.

27. Suggestions for Coaching Salespeople 1. Instead of criticizing them, repeatedly tell salespeople what you like about their performance. 2. Help salespeople improve by giving them “how to” advice. 3. Insist that salespeople evaluate themselves in order to develop their evaluative abilities regarding their own work habits and performance. 4. Ask questions to ensure that the salesperson is actively involved. 5. Make the most of resources that are available to you, such as special training materials and so on. 6. An agreement between you and the salesperson should be arrived at regarding corrective actions to be taken. 7. Keep records of specific standards of performance, including how performance will be measured and by what date. The salesperson should be shown these records when they are written to avoid any misunderstandings.

28. Table 12-2 Sales Managers’ Rankings of the Causes of Plateauing Among Salespeople Mostly Mostly Salary Commission Overall Men Women Only Only No clear career path 1 1 2 1 4 Not managed adequately 2 2 4 3 1 Bored 3 3 3 2 5 Burned out 4 5 1 5 2 Economic needs met 5 4 7 6 3 Discouraged with company 6 6 5 4 6 Overlooked for promotion 7 7 6 7 8 Lack of ability 8 8 9 8 7 Avoiding risk of management job 9 9 10 10 9 Reluctance to be transferred 10 10 8 9 10

29. “Hot Shot” When asked the question, “Are you a winner?” Hot Shot answers, “Well, how did you know?” When dealing with this type of personality it is best to keep a cool head. Although she is a top salesperson, meeting or beating quotas, she is clearly a victim of tunnel vision. High productivity is a great asset to have in an employee, but she believes that this asset alone is reason for a managerial position. Hot Shot has heard an incorrect rumor that a district sales manager position is opening and believes that she deserves the job. She shows no tact in letting everyone know her feelings. History has shown that although she is an excellent salesperson, she is quite a loner. In your opinion she isn’t ready for a job with the responsibilities of a district sales manager. You have a reputation of being fair and rewarding outstanding achievements.

30. “Hot Shot” There is not need to change your style now, but you have just received a letter from Hot Shot. She is very direct and states, “I have worked long and hard for this company and have always been the top salesperson. I have no complaints at all about salary, or the commission and bonus plans. I want you to recognize that I feel I am totally ready for a sales manager’s job, the next one that opens up. It is important for me to tell you that if this company cannot use my talents, I have only one choice to make. What say?” The letter enrages you but you realize that you cannot fire her or give her a job that does not even exist. In fact it is your job to keep her self-esteem and energy as a salesperson intact since your job depends on the productivity of your sales force. Your boss wants to know exactly how you are going to handle this one.

31. Table 12-3 Women in Sales: Percentages by Industry Percent of Women Industry In Sales Force Business services 33.2 Chemicals 5.9 Communications 50.9 Electronics 35.0 Fabricated metals 7.3 Food products 24.9 Instruments 35.0 Insurance 28.5 Miscellaneous manufacturing 22.7 Office equipment 33.9 Printing/publishing 39.4 Retail 32.2 Rubber/plastics 26.9 Utilities 20.2 Wholesale (consumer) 19.7 Wholesale (industrial) 30.9 Average 27.9