Why Does My Manager Dislike Me? The 7 Sales Manager Styles

Have you ever worked for a sales manager who made you feel uncomfortable? Even though you consistently made your number it seemed you never earned his or her respect? Although you made many attempts to improve your relationship, they were all met with indifference? Your sales manager can make your life enjoyable, tolerable, or miserable, and your mental condition is profoundly influenced by this critical relationship. Understanding your sales manager’s management style is the key to winning over this key person.

Just as people have different levels of gregariousness, assertiveness, and action-oriented tendencies, they have different sales management styles. I have found that seven management styles are most prevalent. Most likely, a manager has one dominant style. However, he or she will probably share a few characteristics from other styles and may even move from style to style depending on the situation. The seven most common sales management styles are the mentor, expressive manager, sergeant, Teflon manager, amateur manager, micromanager, and overconfident manager.

 

Each of these management styles builds a different sales environment by hiring their “type” of salespeople and establishing a culture based upon their belief systems and personality. The following chart below introduces the seven different sales management styles and the characteristics of the sales force environment they create. 

   

Management Style	Sales Force Composition	Cultural Characteristics
Mentor	Scholarly Students	Investigative, Consultative
Expressive	Empathetic Egomaniacs	Me First, Bravado
Sergeants	Sincere Soldiers	Loyal, Obedient
Teflon	Patient Pollyanna’s	Optimistic, Nice Guys & Gals
Amateur	Schizophrenic Salespeople	Unpredictable, Unlikable
Micromanagers	Perfect Performers	Repetitive Task Orientation
Overconfident	Clever Conquerors	Win at Any Costs

   

Obviously, there is quite a difference between the culture a mentor and a micromanager create. If you worked for a mentor and suddenly found yourself working for micromanager you would have to adapt to a completely different style. Conversely, a mentor doesn’t have the same priorities or thought process as a micromanager. You would lose credibility with a mentor if you treated him like a micromanager. Heavy Hitters (truly great salespeople) implement a strategy to build a long-term relationship based upon their sales manager’s style. Click here to read a detailed explanation of each sales management style and the strategies Heavy Hitters use to manage the relationship.

Comments

[Will Fultz]

I have worked for several of these types of managers in my career. I enjoyed the article very much, and really think you hit the nail on the head. However, which of these types of managers would be the least involved (allowing their sales force the maximum amount of freedom) in running their sales force?

www.topsalesblog.com

[John]

I think for the most part you nailed these down. What's interesting is when you get a manager that has a hybrid management style. Have you ever experienced a manager like this? I particularly think that scholarly/teacher management style can combine with other forms of management. The best management analysis I've ever seen was in Lawrence Miller's book "Barbarians to Bureaucrats." Also, John Assaraf and Murray Smith's book "The Answer." Link here... www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2

[Paul Davis]

Steve,
Very insightful, I recently finished a stint with an expressive-overconfident rolled into one. As my personality is more of the scholarly/student it was a tough eight years. If somebody wants to learn very quickly how to deal with a myriad of personalities go to work for a Manufacturer's Rep Agency. Not only do you see all seven of the managerial types, you also have to deal with them from the perspective that each one wants 100% of your time. It often is not a pretty sight. You learn how to duck quickly.
I'll be adding you to my blogroll at http://www.salesisteaching.com

[Nick Moreno]

Interesting reading. Thanks.
I will add you to my blogroll.
Nick