Sales and Middle Management: Twins Separated at Birth

Sales people and middle managers generally don't hang out together. It's too bad, because they have a lot in common, and what works for one would often help the other.

Middle managers are, by definition, in the middle - senior management above, junior management or employees below. Less obvious but just as true is that sales people are also in the middle, between their company and their customers. This leads to a whole host of parallels:

• The success of both middle managers and salespeople is largely (arguably totally) dependant on others. Middle management depends on senior management to pick the right direction and make the right decisions, and they depend on their direct reports and people down the line to execute and provide good feedback. Sales people depend on their companies to provide the right products at the right prices with good delivery execution, and they depend on their customers to buy. This lack of direct control in both directions can and does make the people in the middle crazy.
• The primary function of both middle management and sales people is a communication conduit. Middle managers absorb and distill information coming up from below and transmit it to senior management so better executive decisions can be made. They also pass information and decisions from senior management down to the troops below. In addition, there are feedback loops in both directions; middle managers (hopefully) have a role advising senior management on what decisions are likely to work, and provide feedback to their reports on how well they're doing implementing senior management strategy. Sales people transmit information about their company's products to customers, and transmit feedback from customers back to the company.
• When things are going badly, both middle management and sales people are often targets. Did senior management make bad decisions, or did middle management fail to communicate and execute? That's a call senior management makes when things go poorly, and how often do you hear a CEO admitting to a bad strategy? If a product isn't selling, is it the company's problem or are the sales people weak? In a downturn the lowest performing salespeople are often the first to go even if the problem is a market or product issue. Also, in bad times middle managers and salespeople are often messengers bearing bad news (this strategy isn't working, this product isn't selling). Everyone knows what happens to those kind of messengers.
• When things are going well, the value of middle managers and salespeople is still suspect. Things are going well - does senior management really need to work through a middle manager? Why can't they talk directly to line employees (or customers for that matter)? Our products are selling well; do we really need to pay salespeople that much?
• Pretty much everbody thinks they know better than middle managers and salespeople. Senior management knows the business and management better (that's why they're senior, and make multiples more than everyone else). Line people know what's really going on in the company, and management is out of touch. Companies think they know what companies want better than their salespeople, and customers think salespeople don't understand their needs.

Given these parallels, I think the core issues with both occupations are remarkably similar:

• How can you make good things happen when you don't have control?
• How can you communicate most effectively?
• What's the best way of giving feedback, direction, and advice?
• What's the best way to interact with people who might not respect you or your role?
• How do you demonstrate you add value?

I think the answers are pretty much the same for both salespeople and middle managers, which is why I deal with both in this blog.