Sales Management Is Really About Enablement

For the sales enablement professionals reading this, this is not about you, though you might think it is!

When you strip away everything else, the job of sales managers is really about enablement—that is doing everything they can to enable their people to perform at the highest levels possible, to achieve their goals, and to develop to achieve their full potential.

It starts with hiring the right people, assuring they are onboarded, providing the systems, processes, tools, training they need to be successful.

It continues to removing barriers to their success, whether it’s helping them get things done within the organization, or getting the support they need to be success.

Modeling the right behaviors, setting an example for what it means to be successful in the role is a critical role for sales managers.

Finally, it’s about working with your people, being clear about performance expectations, providing good feedback, coaching and developing them. It’s addressing performance issues–ideally helping sales people perform and execute better, but when that fails, moving them into roles where they can perform.

This role, the manager as “enabler,” is not a job/responsibility that can be delegated–it is, in fact, the only reason sales managers exist. At the same time, sales managers rely on many others to help them in enabling their people to perform at the highest levels possible.

Whether it’s the sales enablement function, sales ops, marketing, product management, customer service/support, finance, legal, HR. Sales managers need and leverage the talents of everyone in the organization to help them in enabling sales people.

But we need to be clear, both sales managers, sales people, and others. The only reason sales managers exist is to enable their sales people to perform at the highest levels possible!