There's a serious disconnect between what frontline sales managers need, want, and get from their executive leadership. I lead a sales management development program and spend a lot of time listening to sales managers talk about the support they receive from executive leadership. I also get the executive perspective. Between the two I have uncovered a disconnect that we need to address for high-performance sales execution.  

Frontline managers are looking for executive support in leading their teams

Leadership in the form of vision, team motivation, and culture building was far and away the #1 area we identified, in our survey with Kimono Metrics (July 2017), where managers wanted support from their executive leadership. This type of leadership is an area not often formally trained.

In my experience, it turns out that the favorite activity of many executive sales leaders is ‘deal support’ – In other words, kissing babies and shaking hands. (Who doesn’t want to be the secret weapon brought in to deal the winning blow in a sales campaign?). The trouble is, this is not what managers want, and more importantly, it's not what they need!  Deals near to the finish line are the ones least in need of support. This type of ‘swooping in’ behavior is both distracting for the frontline team and damaging to morale.

Give managers what they want

Start with the plan: Executive leadership must provide mentorship and guidance to managers on how they align and motivate reps using culture-building tactics and by inspirationally connecting individuals to the mission. It starts with having a documented touchstone in the form of a strategic plan that is made real through quarterly reviews and monthly metrics assessment. A great example is Salesforce's V2MOM, which has provided that guiding light for nearly two decades now. If your organization hasn’t woven your plan into your mode of operating, then it is time to take action.

Make it real: With a plan in hand, managers are looking for guidance on how to make it come alive. Leaders must be a part of the solution by being present in the appropriate team meetings and championing culture by example. With the right context in place, frontline managers will be set up for success. All that remains is to include ‘culture & team building’ as a regular review item so that everyone stays the course. Managers need to understand how culture goes beyond taco Tuesdays and is reflected in how we interact with our customers, partners, and colleagues at all levels.

Give managers what they need

It turns out that the highest impact activity for a sales manager (and what they need the most help with) is coaching their reps. When remediating underperforming teams over the past decade, a common thread for me is reps wanting more formal coaching and face time with their manager. If a coaching framework and culture is not built into the operating rhythm, then one of two situations tend to arise:

1. Management in absentia:  Frontline managers are often stretched thin due to internal meetings consuming too much time, or simply having too many reports to make time for coaching.
2. Micromanagement – When managers are neither formally trained or mentored in coaching models, I find them doing the work for the rep or being prescriptive with their advice, rather than enabling the reps with a goal oriented and structured coaching cadence.

Sales managers need the following from executive leadership:

An enterprise-wide culture of coaching

• An expectation that everyone receives coaching
• Knowing that we own our development and document our quarterly goals
• Coaching that is reflected in our strategic plan with tangible activities attached

A framework and approach for regular coaching

• Systems/templates that support accountability with coaching items
• Structure that supports effective coaching and win/win outcomes
• Training in conducting coaching conversations

Mentoring in team development

• Executive guidance on who to develop and how
• Accountability for implementing the coaching imperative

What action should executive leaders take at a minimum?  Ask your frontline managers every month – “What is your coaching priority for each rep on your team this month?”.  Then, make sure that their plan for executing is supported.  Research from Vantage Point has shown that coaching of 3 hours per week per rep increases performance by 11% on average, which will be a dramatic (and free) increase to your top line.

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Matt Cameron is the managing partner at SalesOps Central and founder of Frontline, Silicon Valley's Sales Management boot camp and leadership community. A regular speaker and columnist on the topic of SaaS sales leadership, Matt partners with venture firms to build world-class B2B sales leadership within portfolios. Formerly as the WW Head of Corporate Sales at Yammer and a RVP of Enterprise Sales for Salesforce.com, he enjoyed building sales engines for high growth companies, which continues to be his passion.