A sales manager drove his car into a ditch on a quiet country lane. Fortunately a farmer passed by with a horse.
"Could you pull my car out of the ditch?" asked the sales manager.
"Buddy's a big strong horse," said the farmer. "We'll see what we can do."
The farmer hitched Buddy up to the car and said: "Pull, Bruiser, pull." Buddy didn't move an inch. Then the farmer said, "Pull, Troy, pull." Buddy didn't move an inch. Then the farmer said, "Pull, Sampson, pull." Buddy didn't move an inch. Then the farmer said, "Pull, Buddy, pull." And Buddy effortlessly pulled the car out of the ditch.
The sales manager was grateful but mystified. "Tell me, why did you keep calling your horse by the wrong name?"
"Ah, well," said the farmer, "you see, Buddy is blind. And if he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn't even try!"
Moral of the story. True professional sales managers know that in order be successful at sales within their region, they need to build and maintain a true sense of teamwork between the reps. As a professional sales manager, gone are the days where you could just bark out orders at the beginning of a quarter and tally the results at the end of the quarter, yelling at the underachievers along the way. In order to be successful, you must be like the farmer. You must know the individual capabilities and work traits, strengths and weaknesses, of every member of your team. You must provide them words of encouragement and positive reinforcement when assigning tasks that you already know are well within their reach. Last and most important, you must always do whatever it takes to make each individual feel that they are a vital part of your team. In today's working world, lone wolves do not survive very long on their own.
"Teamwork is so important, that it is virtually impossible for you to reach the heights of your capabilities or make the money you want without becoming extremely good at it."
- Brian Tracy
"Could you pull my car out of the ditch?" asked the sales manager.
"Buddy's a big strong horse," said the farmer. "We'll see what we can do."
The farmer hitched Buddy up to the car and said: "Pull, Bruiser, pull." Buddy didn't move an inch. Then the farmer said, "Pull, Troy, pull." Buddy didn't move an inch. Then the farmer said, "Pull, Sampson, pull." Buddy didn't move an inch. Then the farmer said, "Pull, Buddy, pull." And Buddy effortlessly pulled the car out of the ditch.
The sales manager was grateful but mystified. "Tell me, why did you keep calling your horse by the wrong name?"
"Ah, well," said the farmer, "you see, Buddy is blind. And if he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn't even try!"
Moral of the story. True professional sales managers know that in order be successful at sales within their region, they need to build and maintain a true sense of teamwork between the reps. As a professional sales manager, gone are the days where you could just bark out orders at the beginning of a quarter and tally the results at the end of the quarter, yelling at the underachievers along the way. In order to be successful, you must be like the farmer. You must know the individual capabilities and work traits, strengths and weaknesses, of every member of your team. You must provide them words of encouragement and positive reinforcement when assigning tasks that you already know are well within their reach. Last and most important, you must always do whatever it takes to make each individual feel that they are a vital part of your team. In today's working world, lone wolves do not survive very long on their own.
"Teamwork is so important, that it is virtually impossible for you to reach the heights of your capabilities or make the money you want without becoming extremely good at it."
- Brian Tracy
