Jeff Ragan’s Reviews > The First-Time Manager: Sales > Status Update

"...allow me to restate this critical truth lest you be tempted to cut corners and seek out easy fixes: There. Are. No. Shortcuts...I promise you that the answer to your sales problem is not a quick fix. There is no secret sauce. Trust me, we've all searched for a magic bullet. It. Doesn't. Exist" (162).

"Getting off to a solid start requires absolute clarity on which activities will help your team, and consequently you, win...There are certainly no prizes for destroying your home life because you've allowed people at your company who don't understand your priorities to bury you with things they may consider important but make no contribution to your team's success" (157-8).

"Whether you are yet keenly aware of it or not, as the team leader, you take up significant mental and emotional band-width in your people's minds and hearts, and that is why it is imperative we heed Donnie Williams's advice to balance our approach" (137).

"And honestly you owe it to Johnny. I mean it. You owe him the professional courtesy of confronting him with his underperformance. You owe him the opportunity to right the ship. And I truly believe that you owe him your very best help to make it happen" (124).

"'Relational rent,' as one of my mentors termed it, is paid with time. Money is not the currency of relationship. Time, care, and concern are" (107).

"...sales is as much or more about the heart than it is the head. I'm not interested in adding people to my team who don't love what they do...there may be accountants, software engineers, and project managers who do good work without being passionate about their jobs, but I've never once met a highly successful dispassionate salesperson. We cannot afford to hire someone who doesn't love sales!" (88-9).

"...the ultracompetitive people who are willing to advocate for the companies/solutions they represent (and for themselves), & who push through resistance when prospecting, bust objections, dislodge incumbents, secure next steps...ask for & close deals...these people don't necessarily look, smell, or feel like the collaborator candidates your HR people fantasize about in their flowery job descriptions" (77).

"Regardless of circumstances, you cannot win the long-term sales management game playing the hero of your team. It is neither scalable nor sustainable. At best, it's a very short-term fix. It will kill your culture, your career, and your quality of life" (73).

"Regardless of tenure, managers who elevate themselves and self-promote to satiate their oversized egos not only demotivate their people, but they also often destroy the culture on their team. It's never healthy when the manager takes, rather than deflects, the credit" (62).

"The better and more intentional we are when helping our people prepare for sales calls, the more likely that more of that coaching will stick - and that the coached sellers will continue to prepare professionally for future meetings, even when their manager is not with them" (50).