Creating A Winning Sales Organization

The Emerging Role of Regional Sales Managers 

Last week my meeting with Venkatesh was very insightful. We had an engaging discussion about his career journey. Venkatesh was promoted to Regional Sales Manager in one of the reputed pharma companies couple of years ago after a successful stint as Area Sales Manager for four years. He has spent a total of 10 years in this company and has grown through the ranks.

Venkatesh moved from Ahmedabad where he had a team of 6 Reps to Mumbai region with a team of 65 Reps with 11 Area Managers. Mumbai faced the formidable challenge of retaining top performers and customers due to increasing competitive pressures and growth stagnation.

Venkatesh took up the challenge with energy and enthusiasm using the skills he has learned as an Area Manager. He quickly initiated action including meeting with the various teams and customers as well as reviewing the business. He put in the time and effort required but issues kept piling up daily from his Area Managers and Reps. His phone never stopped ringing as his team sought  inputs and approvals on various initiatives. Increasingly Venkatesh was missing important time-lines for budget submissions, Business forecast, talent reviews and key projects that needed his attention.  

Venkatesh was frustrated as he made some modest improvements that were not significant enough. Venkatesh is not an isolated case. This is a common problem that confronts most Regional Managers. Instead of empowering Area Managers, they continue to direct Reps, thus taking over a function that rightly belonged to their immediate subordinates.

In my discussion with various organizations, I have noticed that this is a extremely common challenge. Let’s examine some stated facts. In most good organizations there exists a formal process of selection and on-boarding when a Rep (Individual contributor) is promoted to an Area Sales Manager’s position (First Line manager). The transition to a new role and responsibilities here are obvious. However, When an Area Sales Manager (First Line Manager) is promoted to Regional Sales Manager (Manager of Managers), the transition is often ignored and the role and responsibilities is not clearly defined.

A few companies have a well thought out selection and training process in place for their Regional Sales Managers(2nd line Managers). This is probably the most important leadership level as it is here than an organization’s management foundation is constructed. Regional Sales Managers are responsible for selecting and developing a team of people who will eventually become tomorrow’s leaders.

Often most organizations make the mistake of treating Regional Sales Manager’s role as just an extension to the Area Manager’s role with a larger team. But the significant difference they fail to realize is that a Regional Sales Manager’s is a pure management position. The reality is Regional Sales Manager often have multiple demands on their time. They are pulled from all sides. Including individual contribution is still a part of job description and key performance indicator for many companies. To perform the role as a Manager of Managers, they need to dissociate from individual task. The most compromised key skills that Regional Sales Managers need to master is selecting, hiring and developing a team of Area Sales Managers and assigning managerial and leadership work to them. You need to measure and monitor their progress and coach them. I am often surprised to see Regional Sales Manager’s assign very low priority to Coaching their direct reports, an extremely significant part of their responsibility.

The other significantly weak area is their ability to think strategically and beyond their operational requirements. Regional Sales Managers need to broaden their thinking about strategic challenges to support overall business.

The most common expression I have noticed while talking with HR and Business Leaders is that “Regional Sales Managers work a level below their role”. One common reason is the lack of meticulousness in selection/promotion process. They fail to appreciate that those Area Sales Managers who are promoted to Regional Sales Managers don’t change or learn managerial skills, and continue to spend time working at an individual level rather than managing a team. As a result they continue to value the work of individual contributors over  managerial work. Regrettably, in many organizations, there is no reinforcement to change this belief. They fail to appreciate the role and differentiate between those who can deliver results and those who can lead.

A Regional Sales Manager’s struggle to understand his new role clearly is largely due to the following key challenges:

Focus on getting things done: Regional Sales Managers mostly operate with the mindset of an Area Sales Managers and do not recognize their role as a Coach and developer of talent. The inability to delegate has a negative impact as they fail to realize that it is impossible to do everything on your own. Their subordinates are often frustrated when their authority and power over the team is diluted. 

Performance Management: Missing focus on the strategic challenges and issues. They fail to identify performance issues and inability to provide clear direction and timely feedback to their direct reports.

Building a strong Team: Often Regional Sales Managers are not well trained or do not take adequate care in selecting and hiring a talented team. Many prefer and select individuals who resemble themselves (hire friends or former colleagues) over people who are proficient. Their behavior also encourage silos and prevents building a solid team.  

Regional Sales Manager is a pure management position hence one needs to dissociate themselves of any individual task. The key areas as mentioned above is focus on building a solid team as well as hiring and promoting competent talent. Assigning and delegating managerial and leadership work to their direct reports, monitoring the progress of their performance, Coaching and providing timely continuous feedback are other priorities. Most importantly, Regional Sales Managers must start thinking beyond their day to day work and function. They need to take active interest with strategic challenges that support their overall business.