Reading this week the article that digital recruitment Peak Sales published on this topic, I couldn’t resist sharing it with all of you. It is, without a doubt, the best definition we can have of a commercial director and commercial producer in our organization.

The problem arises when the top sales producer on your team has been promoted and you need a new sales manager. If you promote the person who produces the most and put a team of five people underneath, will you have five more superstars? Does the fact that someone can sell mean that they can manage sales processes?

The internal promotion process is common and simple. You fill the vacant position and keep your sales team happy. Do you believe that placing your best sales producer in a leadership position will result in the transformation of more sales producers?

Unfortunately, this plan may do more harm than good. Hiring a sales manager should require due diligence. The role of a sales producer versus a sales manager requires a different skill set and “DNA.” There are some salespeople who are promoted to management positions, however when this choice is made at random, giving words of encouragement and directing the team they were part of to create new and better results, there is a risk of jeopardizing the sales function. sales. of the set. We show you the differences that this digital recruiter refers to between a Sales Manager and a Sales Producer in an organization:

Sales producers are independent and exceptionally impulsive. They often like to work outside the boundaries of the organization. However, great sales managers are the complete opposite: they think about the team before the individual. They are the managers and leaders and have the ability to think what is best for the company.

Lastly, the best producers are often motivated by money, often believe that others are equally motivated, and can’t understand why their team can’t deliver 100% of the business. Sales Managers are the opposite, they have the patience and ability to build sales teams, although they have these skills, this does not indicate that they have the ability to transmit them to their team. A sales manager’s responsibilities include recruiting and training, budgeting, forecasting, compensation development, training, and ensuring team success, while a salesperson’s responsibility is “direct selling.”

When promoting internally, you may think you are hiring a sales manager, when the reality is you are hiring a salesperson who wants to be a sales manager. Your new sales manager now has to go from closing deals to running a small business. A leap that for some can become an impossible mission.