Sales Manager Splits

It has been a long standing agreement that splits should be made on the basis of who does the work. In the case of a Sales Manager it is viewed a bit differently.

Sales managers do not take splits except in the following circumstances;

1. It is the Sales Managers customer
2. The customers is turned over by the sales person
3. The Sales Manager does the whole cycle as the salesperson is not available.

It is usually best to keep the Sales Manager away from the counter when they are helping close the sale. It is easier to come up with a strategy to close the sale when you are not being beat on by the customer. As a team you can discuss possible solutions without the customer there. Many a sale has been blown as the Sales Manager, not privy to what has already been said, says something that turns the sale in the wrong direction. Not having the Sales Manager at the counter also leaves an out for the sales person to go re-group when they can say “let me go talk to the manager.”

Part of the Sales Manager’s job is to help salespeople to make and close sales. Help is the key word. If the Sales Manager has to do the sales persons job or a major part of it then it is left to the Sales Manager to define the split. If this happens too often then of course the sales person is not doing their job. If a manager takes a split it should be a reminder that the salesperson needs to either get more knowledge, sales or product knowledge, so that they are not so dependant on the Sales Manager.

The Sales Manager manages sales. If he or she is pulled into making sales then they are being a salesperson not a Sales Manager. The Sales Manager should not be pulled into being the sales assistant or gift wrapper either. Wankers* are not turned over to Sales Managers. The Sales Manager could assist in these areas in rare cases but it would be the exception and never done in front of the customer leaving the manger with no out.

Obviously working things this way can leave the situations open for abuses. A greedy Sales Manager could take splits apparently for themselves. In reality the Sales Manager isn’t paid on sales commissions but on the overall sales so he or she doesn’t benefit from the split. A salesperson looking out only for them could take advantage of the Sales Manager’s willingness to help and leaves the sales manager in one sale so that the sales person can go make another collecting full commission on both sales. The Sales Manager doesn’t take the time to train the sales person or doesn’t insist the sales person continues to learn. Then the Sales Manager, tired of being pulled in on sale after sale blames the salesperson and penalizes them by splitting the sale. Another situation could be that the sales person is lazy and doesn’t get the knowledge he or she needs and just lets the Sales Manager pick up the slack or worse, doesn’t call the Sales Manager in for fear of a split, and then walks the customer with no sale. These apparent short term gains eventually end up with less sales and upsets so no one really gains in the end.

Sales Manager/sales person splits are a reminder that one or both are not doing their best at their job and it should be remedied long before the split.

The solution is an easy one. The Sales Manager ensures that the sales person is trained in all aspects of the business and the sales person ensures he or she gets themselves trained and knowledgeable in all aspects of his or her job. The sales person can then better handle deals on their own and the occasional assist is no bother to the Sales Manager. They work as a team to close every sale possible and they both make more money.