? How to Cope with Bad Sales Managers

Respected Sir, bundle of thanks for your kind invitation.

A Smart Question with equally Smart Answers; nothing to add.

I fully agree with mr. Nadjib's submission.You must perform your role discretely & guide them indirectly maintaining the status quo .

Thanx for the invitation

Thanks for the invitation Mr. Mohamed , here I copy the answer to your question. 

One way to cope with this kind of manager is to ask for a “trial period” of hands-off management. Ask him to let you do your thing for two weeks, or more if you think you can sell it, and see how your numbers look at the end of that time period. Since most micromanaging sales managers respect results above all else, if you can prove that you can deliver results without all the hovering, he may back off and give you more space. Of course, if your numbers slip later, he will probably go back to monitoring your every move for a while!

Often some of the less pleasant management problems happen because the sales manager is afraid of failure. This is especially true of sales managers who were top salespeople. These guys are used to being very much in control of their own activities and their own success. Now, as a manager, his success depends on how well his sales team does and he has far less control over them than over himself. If this sounds like your sales manager, you can help a little by giving him plenty of information about your activities. If your manager knows that today you have made thirty cold calls, have another ten prospects in the pipeline and are going on two appointments tomorrow, he'll feel a lot more comfortable and less inclined to either beat you up or hover over you all day.

Another tool for managing your manager is hard facts. The more detailed information you have on paper (or on computer) about your activities, the better. If your company uses a CRM, put ridiculous amounts of notes in every account about what you did and when. Yes, this will take time, but it will also work wonders at keeping your manager off your back. Not only does it help him to know what you're working on, but it also shows that you're working hard and accomplishing things, even if your number of closed sales happens to be down this week. 

source : http://sales.about.com/od/Selling-Smarter/fl/How-to-Cope-with-Bad-Sales-Managers.htm 

The question is: am I able to make a judgment on the quality of the manager's job and skills?

If I'm a subordinate and I am better than him and more competent, I try to help as far as possible, of course indirectly and discrete way, by offering him suggestions.

I do my job and I behave like a model employee, with respect, disicpline, the execution of work orders.

Thanks For the Invitation.

Every Manager/Boss will have a distinct style of getting things done from his team.You need to understand the cause of concern first, whether it is his Management style or his behavior/attitude which is causing you distress, and act accordingly.

If you are a sub to the So-called 'Bad sales manager', The best strategy is to being fully Prepared at any given point of time, With your reports,Prospects and Plans.Having Said that, Bieng Communicative with the manager discussing the Challenges you are facing, The Support/Resources/info/Promotions you require to chase your Bottomline in a frequent intervals and the action Plan to reach there will help you manage your Boss.

And Also, Try to take Criticism as a valuable input from him on how to do better.keep aside your Personal Ego from Business Persona and control your emotions.

Consider your Boss as a bundle of resource for you in terms of Experience in Handling Difficult situations,Resolving issues and Above All, the one who can grant you a Pay Raise!

Have a positive, Well mannered Discussion and never Over-Committ just to please him for time being as he speaks of huge figures.

Provide genuine suggestions while working on developmetal plans and respect his Decisions, even when you disagree as you need to follow his command

Establish trust by putting in your 100% efforts to realise the set objectives.After all, every one's here to succeed!

1: Making surprise visits.One of the most exasperating situations for a sales rep is when a manager drops by with little warning. The manager does this hoping to see the rep in a “natural state”--how he or she works without the boss watching. But the problem with this tactic is twofold. For starters, it distracts the rep and degrades his or her performance. In other words, the rep won’t be laser-focused on executing the day’s plan, and the manager won’t get a true picture of that rep’s ability. Second, unexpected visits send a message to reps that the manager doesn’t trust them--and that is a sure-fire relationship killer.

2: Meeting with reps’ customers unannounced. When I was a sales rep, I once had a sales manager meet with a long-term customer in my territory without my knowledge. I found out a week later, not from my manager but from the confused customer. This customer considered it poor business etiquette that my manager hadn’t informed me of his visit, and that hurt the customer's confidence in the company.

3: Breaking promises.Of all attributes, trustworthiness is the most important in a sales manager. Sales managers should always keep their commitments, be consistent in the way rules are applied, and keep themselves informed about the daily challenges reps face. That will go a long way in keeping the trust of the sales team.

4: Treating all territories the same.When a sales manager focuses on numbers alone, he or she can give reps the impression that all territories have equal potential. But there are almost always other influences that give one territory an advantage over another, and the manager must acknowledge these. For example, if a territory already has existing influential customers that will make new customer acquisition easier. Conversely, it’s harder to gain new customers in territories where there are few current users. And there are other factors that can come into play. For instance, if a new rep is replacing a salesperson of dubious reputation, the new rep will need to overcome the customer’s existing negative perception of the company. Good sales managers will recognize and acknowledge that not all territories are equal.

 5: Showing favoritism.All sales reps want to believe they have a fair shot at succeeding. When a sales manager gives more concessions, attention, or rewards to some reps over others, he or she degrades the team’s morale. This is a mortal sin, because morale is vital to the success of any sales team.

6: Requiring unnecessary paperwork or reporting.Paperwork and reporting should serve one goal: closing sales. But many sales managers forget this, to everyone’s detriment. At one company, we found that reps were spending 10 percent of their time obtaining corporate approval on sales quotes. To reduce this, we set up a pricing matrix that allowed reps to directly quote the customer. We soon found that freeing up this 10 percent of the reps’ time generated a 20 percent growth in sales, with no increase in workforce cost. The lesson is clear: unnecessary reports and paperwork are a drag on sales production.

 7: Setting unrealistic goals.A sales team must perceive that all goals as reasonable and attainable. If the sales manager sets those goals too high--or too low--it signals to the sales team that the manager is not in touch with the market. It’s difficult for reps to respect and have confidence in managers like that

Thank you for the invitation and I agree with Professor Syed

I agree with experts answer. Thanks for the invitation. .

The best Directors/Owner tries to find the reasons behind the Bad Sales Managers. He understands the abilities and capabilities of the managers. This is necessary for the business to solve the reason as soon as possible to get more successful sales by the managers. 

But there are some kind of Managers ignores the Directors/Owners due to Ego issues, Bad temper, Favoritism, Focus on the wrong things. Sales environments keep people on edge, with lots of pressure coming down from the top to hit sales goals and keep upper management happy and the stock price up. A good manager is able to take that pressure that comes down from above, and put a positive spin on it while encouraging, and supporting their employees to be the best that they can be. But bad managers take that pressure and instead magnify it as they pass it down to their employees, yelling, intimidating, and punishing. Using negative reinforcement may get temporary results, but someone who secretly resents you is unlikely to be as good of an employee as someone who respects you.

Focus on job description which has to be legibly documented with examples of measurable accomplishments with a back up to prove your point and strike the iron hot.

thanks for  the invitation i agree with Mr Rami .