The very best salespeople know they need good managers in order to ensure their own success. They'll even take steps to make their managers better if the managers don't meet their expectations.
It was my fifth month as a new sales manager. I was on my way to Albany to conduct my monthly sales meeting one morning when I was pulled over for speeding along I-75. I say "along" because I wasn't actually on I-75, I was on the entrance ramp after stopping at a McDonald's at the Ashburn, Ga. exit. I was getting back on the highway with coffee, hash browns and McMuffin in hand.
Anyone familiar with South Georgia along I-75 knows the Ashburn exit is the one with the huge peanut monument on the side of the highway. That monument has the 30-year distinction of actually being the world's largest peanut.
So, there I was, sunlight glinting off of the great peanut, getting on the entrance ramp to get back on the highway when a police car pulled me over. The officer walked up to my car and asked me if I knew how fast I was going.
I said, "Couldn't have been more than 40 as I'm still on the entrance ramp, officer.
"Well, I clocked you at 90, and that's a dangerous speed for the highway let alone the entrance ramp," he said. "Please step outta the car."
At this point, the officer opened my door and pulled me out of the car. My Egg McMuffin flew out of my hand and exploded on his pants.
As he looked at my registration, he asked, "Your name Motorola?"
"No sir, it's a company car, not mine," I said.
"Speeding, assaulting an officer and operating a stolen vehicle," he responded. "Turn around and put your hands behind your back, sir."
There I was face down on the trunk of my car, handcuffed, having assaulted a police officer with an Egg McMuffin, staring at the world's largest peanut at the Ashburn entrance ramp to I-75.
I was taken to jail and put into a cell with the largest, tallest, most barefoot person I had ever seen. He told me that he was in the hoosegow because he had, "Twis'ed a man's head off."
After 10 of the longest minutes of my life, one of my sales representatives walked in and unlocked the jail door himself.
Tommy, my sales representative, then looked at me and said, "Got ya!" Suddenly the rest of my sales team materialized from around the corner, the officer who arrested me came in smiling (his lap still covered in Egg McMuffin) and Bigfoot, my cell mate, introduced himself as Officer Roundtree. Everyone got a big laugh out of the whole event. Everyone but me, that is.
That night at dinner it got worse when my team told me I was the worst and most useless boss they had ever had (their actual words).
Tommy leaned in close and said, "We had you arrested for two reasons. First of all, it was really funny. Second, we wanted to demonstrate that we can do anything we want to you." He could tell his last comment had me a bit unnerved. So, he quickly said, "Calm down, I didn't mean it like that. What I meant to say was we can make you a hero or we can get you fired. We've been here a long time and we aren't going anywhere, but you might be."
Tommy went on to say, "If you want to be a good manager we'll tell you how." Then my team laid out their expectations of me and how I could support, rather than control, their efforts.
The best salespeople expect their managers to:
- Be available.
- Be a champion.
- Be a mentor.
- Be respectful.
- Be fair and impartial.
- Listen to understand.
- Be decisive.
"And every once in a while just say, thank you!"
Dan Norman is a sales performance expert, a professional speaker and the author of Top Ten Selling. He can be reached at www.toptenselling.com or 407-566-9741.
