Sales Rep 101 – Chapter 20

Micro Manager

Some of you may have had the opportunity to work with a Micro Manager yet in your career. But if you stay in sales long enough you will…trust me. So what do I mean by a Micro Manager. This type of manager likes to be in complete control of your day. They schedule meetings every morning to make sure they know what every sales rep is doing that day and they require a daily update on all activity. Meaning they will usually require a daily check in at the end of the day to see how many calls you made, how many clients you saw and details on how every call and presentation went. Now, I know what you are thinking. You may be thinking that sounds reasonable. And to a certain extent you are right. The problem with Micro Managers is that they take it too far. Let me give you an example. I’m going to try and not be too specific in case he ever reads this because I still consider him a friend…but I digress. I had a manager once that I really liked but he had to have his thumb on everybody. He loved ride alongs. I mean he LOVED them. Ride alongs are great for new reps because the manager can help the rep when they get stuck somewhere in the presentation. But experienced reps hate them because most clients feel uncomfortable when you have more than one person there trying to sell them something. It can fell like they are outnumbered and can just be not a comfortable situation. But he constantly scheduled them because it got him out of the office and he could find things wrong with my presentation. Never mind that I was one of the top sales reps at that company.

How Micro Managers Effect You

Micro Managers feel like knowing your every move is the best way to keeps their sales team on the right path. However, it actually has the opposite effect. Sales reps are actually less productive when they have a micro manager. This is a proven fact. Why?

Because they are constantly stressed out about how they are doing and what their manager is going to do next. And after a while reps get tired of it and inevitably look for another job. I have seen it countless times. And it can worse for experienced reps. My manager that I referred to would always call out the most experienced reps in the meetings to make a point. It made everyone uncomfortable. The biggest problem is that the Micro Manager doesn’t see a problem with it because it is just their personality to manager that way. If you are a manager reading this please do a self evaluation and see if there are things you can change in your style that you could be comfortable with. You will see better production from your sales team. Guaranteed.

How Does A Sales Rep Deal With This

This is a tough one because not everyone will be able to deal with it. The best way is to focus on what you can do yourself and be your own sales person. Especially if you are doing well. And when your manager suggests things to you just smile and wave boys….smile and wave. Reference to the penguins in Madagascar. As for the daily check ins and daily meetings? Well…you can either deal with it or you can’t. Unfortunately, there is nothing that you can do to change that managers style. But if you like your job enough you will just have to find the strength to work through it.

I suggest finding someone on the team that you trust that you can vent to. Because I’m sure there are others on the team that feel the same way. Just remember to always be prepared for your manager. Always have a few standby accounts that you can always take your manager on just in case you have a surprise ride along. Trust me…this is a must. Also, come up with some standard responses on your check ins when you are going over your accounts and sales calls. After a while you will find this easier but in the beginning it may wear you down. Keep up the good fight!