What To Do If You Don't Like Your Sales Manager

Throughout my sales career, I've had a lot of sales managers. Some of them have been great, some of them have been good and a lot of them have been bad. 

As a salesperson, what do you do if you don't like your sales manager? That's the questions I recently was asked on LinkedIn.

If you don't like your sales manager, there's really 3 things you can do.

Option 1: Quit Your Job

If you can't stand your sales manager and loathe going into the office each day, you can always quit your job. You'll no longer have to be managed by someone you don't like and can do whatever it is your little heart desires. Although looking for a new sales job is never a fun thing to do, you won't have to worry about working for someone you don't like.

Option 2: Take Your Sales Manager's Job

You might not be able to take their job right away, but this long-term solution might be the right thing for you to do. You'll have to increase your sales, become a top producer in your organization and demonstrate some leadership skills in order to get the promotion. This might take some time, but sooner or later, you can replace the person who you don't like and will no longer have to work with the sales manager you don't like, because you'll be the sales manager. Just make sure he/she isn't your boss when you get promoted.

Option 3: Do Your Job, Really Well

Sales professionals who are disciplined enough to do what they don't want to do, can perform at a high level and generate consistent results don't need anyone to manage them - because they are managing themselves. There is a short-term and a long-term benefit to this option because as a sales professional, you are in charge of how much effort you put into your job and your personal skill development. When you are closing deals consistently and everyone on your team knows that they can bank on you for results, you'll increase your value and reduce the number of times your manager has to speak to you (about anything).

The Bottom Line

Decide on whether you want to do the work or not do the work. If you're lazy, uninspired and unmotivated, quit your job - there's a ton of other jobs out there that you might very well enjoy. If you're a go-getter, have attention on skill development and can product, increase your activity levels and go all-in on your sales skills.

Join Cheat Codes For Sales, a free sales course that I created to help you level up your sales skills and be more confident.