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“When’s the deal coming in?” We’ve all had the manager who has asked the question. This question is ok, not great, and dangerous when this is the only inquiry a manager is asking. A sales manager’s job is to keep the reps accountable for their pipeline, but the other role responsibilities are to be a coach for the players on the team.
A sales manager should be on the frontlines, meaning they should be on the phone or on face to face meetings with their reps 50% of the time. Working in tandem with your reps gives a sales manager more bang for the buck, essentially 1+1=3. 
1) Freshness – being on the phone or going to face to face meetings with my reps keeps me, as the manager, up-to-date as to what’s current in the market place.
2) Scalability – understanding what’s current in the market helps me guide the rest of the reps with the most up-to-date techniques and sound bites.
3) Trust – if my suggestions and coaching are fresh and can help my reps with current challenges, they trust me and my guidance. If I were to give them advice on outdated information they wouldn’t trust me to steer them away from obstacles. Working in tandem and seeing my direction first hand they will trust I’m working for their best interest.
4) More Is Better – two sets of ears are better than one. Having a rep paired with a manager tends to pick up more details that might have otherwise been missed.
5) Accountability – when I’m participating with my reps they are accountable to implement my suggestions. As their manager, I’m accountable for helping them avoid obstacles and closing deals.
6) Real time coaching – there are many techniques for coaching reps, including call recordings or pipeline reviews, however nothing is more impactful than immediate feedback. If a rep is given feedback or advice a week or even several days after the incident, the momentum can be lost.
7) Pipeline – by participating with my reps on the frontline, I have a better sense of the teams’ pipeline. I’m in the deals with them and know the intricate details of each one. This is much more effective than asking “when is the deal coming in?”
8) Close More Deals – working with my reps on their deals, simply closes more business. I have more experience than most of my reps and can teach them how to bring a deal across the finish line.
9) Share Best Practices– I’ve hired smart reps and they come up with savvy things on a daily basis. Anytime I hear a new technique or sound bite (which happens frequently), I can be assured it’s shared amongst the team as I’ll be the one sharing.
10) Recognition – many reps enjoy the spot light hence using charts and metrics to motivate them. They also enjoy being recognized amongst their team for coming up with new ideas. In addition, this fosters others to want to be recognized for their new ideas as well.
11) Multitasking – read the list above. As a manager, I don’t have a lot of time, but look at all the things I can do while on the frontlines. If I tried to do all these things separately it would take way too long. Why not kill two birds with one stone?
Being on the phones or in face to face meetings with my reps foster many positives, let me warn 50% is a well calculated percentage. If you spend too much time with your reps, you can inadvertently squash their independence and make them paralyzed. Any more than 50% of my time on the frontlines and there wouldn’t be time for the other parts of the job role. Remember it can be intimidating for a rep to get their boss on a call. Be very cognoscente of this and ask the rep to guide you as to what role they want you to play. A sales manager should perceive themself as “the coach” and not “the boss”. Happy coaching….
