This is frequently done and seldom is it a good move. Most effective sales people do not posses the necessary  skills to successfully manage a sales department. Both jobs require significantly different characteristics as well a different skills. The best sales people are fiercely competitive and get real adrenalin rushes from the excitement of stalking their prey and then bagging their prospect with a great close.

Most great sales people are unable to do anything else well other then close a sale. They typically do not do their paperwork well, too  boring. They are usually unable to train others as they have no idea how they do it… they just do. They often come in late and then leave when they are exhausted as selling requires an enormous amount of energy.

Great sales people typically are paid more then sales managers as sales people create revenue, managers do not appear to. Managers require the skill to be able to deal with upper management as well as their sales group which requires diplomacy and other skills salespeople do not always have.

A mistake frequently made is to make a great sales person the sales manager but require the salesperson to maintain his sales effort half time and manage half time. That’s a failing strategy, as a great sales person cannot split his time successfully and both focus on selling and managing effectively. Sales managers must manage full time to get the best results out of his sales people.

Managers must “babysit” their sales group as individual personal issues and problems become the issues and problems of the entire sales group and the manager must control and handle this matter. Sales people do a poor job in this area as it requires compassion, understanding, patience and managerial skills, which sales people typically do not possess.

What ends up happening is a  great salesperson becomes a mediocre or worse a terrible manager and ends up losing their job or leaving for a better sales opportunity and now the company has neither its star sales person or a sales manager. That’s the typical result from trying to convert a great sales person into a great sales manager.

When you require the sales manager to also sell, the entire rhythm of the sales day is upside down as when the sales staff requires support the manager is busy selling. The competitive nature of the sales person will overcome the diplomatic nature of the sales manager and the sales managers job will be second and will be done  less effectively.

The only conclusion to draw from this situation is never make the mistake of moving your best sales person into a management positions. It will not work out well. Call for help 413-549-2966.