August 17, 2023– Repertoire Magazine recently spoke to Patrick Malone, a leadership mentor and independent business advisor with over 40 years of experience, about the current state of business and sales management. Malone started in customer service with American Greetings in Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked his way up to the role of vice president for the Southeast region. In the last 20 years, he’s worked with a company called The PAR Group, focusing on sales leadership development. Most recently, he’s hosted several live talk radio shows in a two-hour block every weekday morning.
Sales tactics and the products that reps sell have improved over the years, but Malone argues that the process of managing a sales team hasn’t changed. “It’s basic nuts and bolts. Managing and coaching a group of salespeople hasn’t really changed over the years.” While the people and the way that a sales manager connects with them might have changed, the skills required to manage a sales team haven’t.
On the other hand, the responsibilities of a sales manager have changed quite a bit from Malone’s perspective, especially when it comes to forecasting. He said, “I think the one thing I’ve seen that’s different is sales managers today are carrying forecast responsibility in addition to their management roles. Sales managers get promoted because they were good salespeople, and when they move into that role, all their emphasis is on their portion of the forecast. The sales management piece of the equation becomes secondary.”
According to Malone, too many leaders think that sales is still a numbers game. Nowadays, sales is much more of a skills game. It takes repetition to really nail down the details of a successful sales call.
What are those skills? Malone said, “The ability to ask questions in a way that the customer recognizes that you really do care. Once you’ve asked the question, you need to acknowledge the answer that you get, without saying ‘I heard you.’ These are subtle skills. I know a lot of people can ask questions, but it becomes more of an interrogation than a demonstration of real interest.”
Read more in the latest issue of Repertoire Magazine.