Traditionally, leadership has been described as the ability of a superior to influence the behavior of subordinates and persuade them to willingly follow a desired course of action. The leader’s task is to unite all assigned personnel in an organization and coordinate them in an effort to achieve sought-after results.
From one viewpoint, leaders are leaders, whether they manage sales personnel, production specialists, administrators, engineers, nurses, basketball players, or any other group of employees. On the other hand, many of those who manage and lead sales managers and salespeople suggest that sales personnel are different, distinct enough from their counterparts in other departments to benefit from a unique form of leadership.
But why are salespeople different from other employees? And what is this unique form of leadership? These questions are the focus of this article.
Why Are Salespeople Different?
- Salespeople are isolated and independent. In most cases, salespeople are physically and psychologically separated from others in the organization. Because sales-people usually work alone, they may have no one with whom to share the disappointment of the lost order, the frustration of the delayed shipment, or the exhilaration of the well-earned sale. Although most salespeople want independence and personal freedom, it is likely that the lack of peer-group cohesion as well as infrequent feedback from superiors may be counterproductive. The field sales manager, the salesperson’s major contact with the... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.
Become a premium subscriber today to read this and all MIT Sloan Managmeent Review articles.
Buy this article. Purchase one or more copies of this article in PDF form.
Become a premium subscriber today to read this article and the entire archive of MIT SMR articles.
Upgrade your existing subscription to premium
Sign in if you are a premium subscriber.
Do you subscribe the MIT Sloan Management Review in print? Enter the email address and password you used when ordering. Don't remember? Lookup your subscription account information
- Register for free access to recent articles and the current issue of MIT Sloan Management Review.
- Subscribe and read articles from the past three years online.
- Premium subscription give you access to the entire archive of articles.
