Billboard Insider sales columnist Kevin Gephart is running a series of conversations with Chris Lytle who has trained sales professionals for 44 years.  Today Kevin and Chris discuss whether a sales manager should be a sales rep.

What’s wrong with having a sales manager carry a book of business?

Kevin Gephart.  The publication that I write for, Billboard Insider, did an unscientific survey of owners and managers of billboard companies.  The good news is 75% of readers said managers should not carry an account list. The bad news is that only 75% said that. It means there are still 25% who are clinging to the notion that you can dilute the focus of the sales manager’s effort and still have a good outcome. What are your thoughts?

Chris Lytle.  If you’re anything like me, you’re selling up a storm minding your own business and – bam – somebody comes in and says we want to make you the sales manager! For a moment you’re so flattered that you’re promoted, you say “well sure! I would do that!”  Then they say, “we want you to keep your active account list until you can develop people to take over some of these accounts.”  Right there you have two full-time jobs. You’re only good at one. A paradox of management is you get paid for doing less of what you got promoted for doing more of.  Your sales job is a full-time job, and the management job is a full-time job. You don’t know anything about being a manager because you’ve never been a manager. You are now the forgotten rookie.

Kevin Gephart.   You and I agree sales managers should not carry a book of business, so why are 25% of owners/managers still clinging to that notion?

Chris Lytle.  It’s a way to save money. Media companies already have a good salesperson, and they want them to teach the other people how to be just like them. But the person you just promoted doesn’t have the time to develop the salespeople.

Kevin Gephart.  I never understood why owners and entrepreneurs in the media business want to expense-drive their business when they should revenue-drive their business.  Part of it, I think, is deep down inside, owners and managers have a hard time justifying the expense of a sales manager.  We know what a salesperson costs. We can see what a salesperson produces every week, every day, every hour.  What is the value of a good sales manager?  You don’t know?  You have to invest in the right sales manager and give them all the tools/training/coaching – everything that they need to be successful – and test the upper limits of revenue.  In the billboard business most of the people I work with are fixated on creating assets. “We’ve got to get a billboard out on I-95 because that’s going to generate lots of revenue.”  They have no reservations about spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to get digitals in place, yet the asset that could provide the most sustainable long-term growth (a good sales manager) they don’t want to spend the money.

Next week, Part 2: The Sales Management Trap.  If 2024 is your year to sell more OOH faster, I may be able to help, contact me at KevinJGephart@gmail.com

About Chris Lytle: Chris inspired and educated countless media advertising sales professionals for 44 years. He is the author of the media sales bestsellers, The Accidental Salesperson and The Accidental Sales Manager. His company, Instant Sales Training, continues to deliver sales training in easily digestible knowledge bites. Contact him at InstantSalesTraining.com

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