We’ll all seen bad modular home factory sales managers. Some
are so obvious that you have to wonder who hired them and how long until they
are fired. Others hide in plain sight behind their desk and it takes a while
before the factory owner realizes that maybe the reason sales are down is
because of him/her.
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| The Bad Sales Manager |
Yes
there are good sales managers out there and fortunately they outnumber the bad
ones.
This is a list of ways to spot a potential bad sales manager before the
factory loses sales staff and builders.
- They are jerks. They are insensitive, selfish, ignorant and
cocky people who are inconsiderate and do stupid things. Actually, this sounds
like a cousin of mine. Maybe I could get him a job at your factory. - They make your life complicated. They will ask for detailed
sales reports and hold you up and ridicule you to the rest of the staff if you
don’t have everything completed on time. They ask for reports and projections
that take up so much of your time that you end up forgetting appointments and
calls. - They resist learning anything new. Their way has worked for
decades, why change now? Social media is something they jump on when nobody is
looking and post their latest vacation photos. It’s not somewhere the factory
should have a presence. That’s too much work. - They don’t share what they know with others. Training is
unnecessary in their eyes. OJT is the best teacher because they don’t want to
do it themselves. “Sink or swim” is their motto. - They do the least amount necessary to look successful. They
take credit for the hard work to land a new builder, a developer or a major
project. - They are always looking out for #1. If it wasn’t for their
efforts and expertise, the modular factory would be out of business. They
always make sure that every action benefits them first. - They always blame someone else. It’s never their fault they
lost the best sales rep the company has ever had…”He had a bad attitude.” It’s
never their fault they lost the company’s best builder…”He was too demanding
when it came to service issues.” - They make promises they never intend to keep. “I didn’t
promise you that.” How many times have sales reps heard this one? - The builder is someone they have to put up with. Builders
should always go through their sales rep before they will talk to them. If they
have to talk directly to the builder, why would the company need sales reps.
I’m sure I’m missing a couple of other ways to spot the bad
sales manager but if yours fits even one of these, maybe it’s time to look for
another one….quickly!
