Direct Supervision vs. No Supervision!
By: Robert S Curry Direct Supervision vs. No Supervision! -Direct supervision of your employees is a requirement for quality management skills. The sales manager of one of my first turnarounds had a terrible habit which I quickly corrected. He would sit in his office and do stuff. He would have minimal face-to-face time with his sales staff. I knew that none of the tasks that he was doing in his office were valuable to the company. I needed a sales manager who would:
- Train the sales staff.
- Lead the sales staff.
- Generate new sales leads.
- Motivate the salespeople.
- Lead the weekly sales meetings.
- Attend each sales call with the salespeople.
- Set goals and sales quotas for each of the sales staff.
- Assist in closing deals during the sales calls.
- Develop performance reviews for each of the salespeople.
- Suggest and manage sales contests to motivate the sales team.
- Meet with the sales staff after the sales call to share what they did right and areas where they need to improve.
- Produce sales reporting to assist in managing the sales team.
- Review all sales literature and update, if applicable.
- Meet with vendors to search for new products to be sold by the sales team.
Direct Supervision vs. No Supervision! Some people refer to direct supervision as “Management by Wandering Around.”
Very few of these items listed above requires the sales manager to be in his office to accomplish. I know a sales support employee could have handled much of what he was doing during the day. His priority responsibility was to generate more sales for the company. There were no sales transactions taking place in his office.
Be sure to read Management by Wandering Around to Increase Profits!
If you are running a company, sitting in your office is not an efficient way to manage your business. If your management team is sitting at their desks all day, that management style does not create a profitable business. Do not hide from leading the management team or the employees. The more time the owner spends with his team, the better. The more time the management team spends with their direct reports, the better. Face-to-face time with your staff improves productivity, therefore, increases the profitability of the business.
My name is Robert Curry, and I am an Author, CEO Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Turnaround Specialist. Over the past 20 years, I have worked with more than 70 companies taking their businesses from Loses to Profits.
Please click on the links below to read some my other articles like Direct Supervision vs. No Supervision!
Everyone in the Company is a Salesman!
New Commission Program for the Sales Team!
Recently, I published two books about turnarounds: “From Red to Black – A Business Turnaround” and “The Turnaround.” Both books are true stories about turnarounds of real companies that I have turned around during my career. In both books, I have shared all my Profit Improvement Recommendations (“PIR’s”). PIR’s helped to grow sales, reduce expenses, improve cash flow, and most importantly, strengthen the management teams.
If the information in this article Direct Supervision vs. No Supervision! helps you, your family or a business associate, please email me at bob@ceorsc.com and share with me the story.
If you would like to purchase either or both books autographed by the author, please click on the following link: Losses to Profits Series.
