There are different types of people in the world and since people make up the business world as well, it’s evident that there will be different management styles as well. While the ones listed here can fit most type of industries, the focus in this blog is from the point of view of a sales professional.
Management and leadership styles are not an in born quality but imbibed in the environment you grow up in, and also the influences and experiences you’ve had with other professionals in such roles.
I’ve had a perspective from both the sides, as an employee with a boss and vice versa. Over the years, I have had a chance to work with a lot of managers. Some who were directly supervising my work, others who I interacted with on personal and professional level. These are the different styles that managers use with respect to their styles of managing:
1. Dabbler
As the name suggests this manager is learning the ropes of the role he has been put into. This doesn’t necessarily mean that he is new to the role of a sales manager but that he is trying to understand the account or the company he has just become a part of. This leads to the person being short on confidence which massively reduces the ability to take important decisions for the team. The challenge with being in this situation is that it rubs off on the team that you are leading.
In such a situation it’s very important for the person to rely on their own personal sales techniques to come out of the slump. Getting to know the account and the organization takes time, but that shouldn’t hamper the short term outlook or any deals that require critical decision making.
2. Micromanager
This person is someone who while having delegated a task to the team member keeps a continuous tab on the task that has been assigned. This technique does work in a small number of cases where the team member is looking for guidance and the continuous supervision helps to hand-hold the team member to perform optimally. But in a majority of the cases, this acts as a massive deterrent to freely perform the task. The continuous micro management in most cases slows down the task immensely since the team member has to constantly be on the hook to be ready with a review rather than actively working on the assignment.
Micromanagement is one of the most common styles of working and this stems from a distrust of the people working for you. The only time this can be a useful strategy is when the team is new and looking for directions to complete the work. Then again, this should only be used for a limited amount of time, failing which it can lead to discontentment and stress within the team. None of which are good for a well functioning sales team.
3. Transactional
This manager is jumping from one issue to the next. The only discussion you’ll have with them is on the task at hand. And once that task is complete, the next task takes over. The conversation normally doesn’t evolve beyond what activity has to be performed. They value structure and order.
This sort of leadership is helpful where there is a program with rules and regulations. A good example of it is in military operations. An example closer to the technology world would be a support project. In such projects, there are SLAs (Service Level Agreements) that have to be adhered to and the managers do not have a lot of time to talk beyond transactions.
While great in the above examples, it doesn’t really augur well for an organization to have such managers wherein creativity and innovation is key to the business. Leaving a link here if you want to check out this sort of leadership in more detail.
4. Mentor
Merriam Webster defines mentor as someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. This leadership style as you can imagine is quite different from what we have gone through so far. A mentor is more like a teacher or influencer and generally takes a stake in the development of the mentee (in this case its the team members reporting to him/her).
Mentoring is essential for leaders as it brings out the best in the people you lead. Mentoring also generates confidence, inspires trust and fast-tracks team development. This leadership style is often considered among the most desirable by employees. The salient ways to conduct this are as follows:
- Inspire the staff through effective and empathetic communication
- Instill an environment where creativity and intellectual ideas are encouraged
5. Delegator
This style was proposed by David Jacoby. Delegating is empowering salespeople with the freedom to do their jobs or to enhance their personal development. Salespeople who have demonstrated the ability to work successfully and independently often have the confidence to continue to perform with little supervision.
Delegating is often difficult for some sales managers. This is not uncommon since sales managers typically are interested in, concerned about, and feel responsible for their salespeople, and want to stay involved. The key to the delegating style is monitoring and follow-up to keep yourself assured of the continued efforts and success on the part of the salesperson, and to allow the salesperson enough room to do the job confidently without feeling you are ‘micfro-managing’.
This is the least interactive of the five management styles.
You can use this style:
- With successful salespeople who have demonstrated abilities and expressed a desire to work independently
- To empower salespeople for job enrichment or challenge
- To develop individuals by building their confidence in their own ability to work successfully with little supervision
- In tight time periods
CONCLUSION
The five sales management styles though unique need not stay with a professional throughout their career. In fact you will find that many situations require more than one style.
Let’s take for example in a new project initiative, you may need to use the micro-manager style to start with and slowly get to the delegator phase.
Similarly in a situation where you are operating with a new team, you’ll have to be a transactional manager while transitioning to a mentor as time moves along.
The key is to be be flexible based on the situation you are presented with. The more flexible you are, the greater is your ability to effectively communicate with people and influence their behavior in the desired direction.
