Dear Sales Rookie,

No, I’m not going to congratulate you and unleash a string of platitudes about what a marvelous opportunity awaits you with your sales career.

But I am going to ask you a question.  And while you might not know the answer right now, you will in a few weeks.

How good is your boss?  Good in the sense of being able to teach you?

Right now you are writing the chapter of your sales career when learning is more important than anything else.  It might even be more important than closing deals.  Why?  Because if you close a deal the wrong way and get business by accident the deals could stop at any moment.

Do you have a sales manager who is committed to your success?  Does she act on this commitment by personally taking time to coach, train and critique you?  I’m not talking about sending you off to a corporate training center or giving you some CDs to watch.  I’m talking about spending time with you one-on-one, answering questions, and giving you the personal attention you deserve.

Is your sales manager going on calls with you?  Does she sit quietly while you do the selling, observe your performance and afterwards, give you a detailed critique, honestly and objectively pointing out what you did well on the sales call and what didn’t you didn’t do so well?

Is your sales manager available?  Will she take a few minutes to let you role-play a piece of a presentation you would like to make?  Will she go through a written presentation before you make it, offering suggestions?

Is your sales manager there for you?  Does she make it easier for you to navigate the organization you work for?  When it comes to managing people and accounts, is she objective and fair, or is she playing favorites?

Does your sales manager show up unprompted and ask you how she can help?  And does she follow through on this offer by answering your questions?

If this isn’t happening, there’s only one thing you need to do.

Find another job.

Sales managers who are too busy to help rookie salespeople learn the ropes, sales managers who just throw you up against the wall to see if you’ll stick… these people aren’t sales managers.  They aren’t leaders.  They aren’t doing their jobs.

So don’t work for them.  Your sales career needs to start off with the kind of a sales manager you will look back on years from now as fondly as you look back on your favorite schoolteacher.

Don’t compromise.  Don’t make excuses.  Don’t wait for things to get better if you are not getting the attention and support you deserve.

Don’t work for a sales manager who doesn’t work for you.

Cordially,

Paul Talbot