Sales Manager will not turn in activty reports....

[BMonkey]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new here and glad to have found this place.

I have a little situation. I'm not exactly sure how to handle it. I run a successful small business in Charlotte NC. We currently have 650+ clients.

I just hired a new sales manager. He has been with us for a little over a month now. Each Friday, before close of business, my sales team is required to submit their activity reports to me. However, this new guy has yet to submit one on time. The earliest I seem to get it is Wednesday of the next week. I have spoken with him, emailed him, set up a reminder, and nothing! I'm to the point where I would like to write him up, but my partner thinks that is too much.

Have any of you encountered this? I'm trying to think of a consequence that will get him to submit the report on time. Thoughts? TIA

[huggytree]

tell him no pay check until it gets turned in.....problem solved

if he's a performer be gentle with him...

[BMonkey]

I was thinking of a monetary sting... He is not yet a performer as he's too new. Time will tell on that one. Think he's just starting off on the wrong foot for sure!

[KristineS]

I think you need to set boundaries now. It may be that he's just testing to see what he can get away with. It could be he's like many salespeople I know, great with people, not so great with paperwork. Whatever the reason I think you need to sit the guy down, let him know this is what you expect, and then ask him what is keeping him from turning his reports in on time. If he gives you some reasons, tell him you're willing to work with him to solve any issues, but you expect those reports to be in on time and there will be consequences if they are not.

I definitely would also remind him that, as sales manager, he sets the tone for the rest of the team. You can't expect others to do what managers won't or don't do. I wouldn't phrase it as a threat, but I would remind him that you need someone leading your team who is a good role model and who upholds and supports company rules and regulations.

[huggytree]

I was thinking of a monetary sting... He is not yet a performer as he's too new. Time will tell on that one. Think he's just starting off on the wrong foot for sure!

keeping his paycheck held back until he complete's his tasks is a monetary sting!....id go farther and add it to your company handbook as new policy...ill bet you never get a late one again!

if he gets away with it then you may also see other salesmen slacking in the same way....nip it in the bud!

[BMonkey]

Thanks guys.... We give the "Sales Manager" title to all of our sales people, so he is not an actual manager, just a sales rep.... I have sat him down already, he always has an excuse. I actually got it from him today and he said he had a migraine on Friday and thought he sent it. I get that a lot, "Oh, I thought I sent it, must be a wi-fi problem"

I will sit him down this week if I do not get it again this Friday. I do need to set the tone and set it early. I have not let it slip once, but he just always has an excuse. It's very frustrating. He's getting back into sales after a long stint in operations, so I was surprised he's falling into the sales behavior trap so quickly.

Thanks!

[Harold Mansfield]

I find that I am increasingly annoyed by technology excuses. Back in the day when pagers were new, you could still get away with it. But at this point, for people to expect me to beleive that technology that they use everyday like phone, voicemail, and email ( and that are highly reliable), just didn't work that time, is an insult to my intellegence.

I'd rather hear any old completely made up BS, than to hear that one.

[BP Writer]

I wouldn't monkey with his check - although it sounds logical, that can cause you a lot of headaches that you don't want. Keep in mind one thing - a leader cannot be effective if he/she tolerates insubordination. Of course you want to be tactful and not over-react, but at the same time employees should not get in the habit of disregarding your instructions.

My suggestion is to schedule a standing meeting with him at 4:00 pm every Friday to go through his activity report. If that doesn't work, write him up with emphasis on corrective action. If he doesn't follow the corrective action then courteously help him find a position with another company that is more suited to his work style.

[billbenson]

Sales people hate paperwork. And I have also had bosses that asked for to much paperwork (I'm not suggesting that you are). I would suggest a group meeting to discuss activity reports under the ruse of learning from each other.

I've been a salesman since 1982. I've had to submit daily, weekly, monthly... activity reports. I had a boss one time that came from a completely different industry. I sold telecom switches to telephone companies. I had 4 accounts or so on the Eastern Seaboard of the US which was my territory. My new boss came from the PBX industry where every company was a prospect. He wanted us to make 40 calls a week and document them in a weekly activity report. I remember flying to cities and making phone calls from my hotel room just to have my 40 calls. In that job, I would fly to a key city, call on managers, engineers, etc and wine and dine them. There were usually only one or two people to call on in a given city.

You didn't say what your industry is. A weekly activity report may be completely appropriate. It may also be excessive for a new sales guy learning your company, industry, etc. Do you really need a weekly report for your business?

The best boss I ever had didn't ask for activity reports. He wanted memo's updating him on prospects so he knew what was going on. He would also do things like say I'd like to travel with you next week and visit your best customers. He liked to use his position to try to move up a level in the organization I was calling on. It was a good strategy.

I'm not suggesting you are doing anything wrong or that your reports aren't necessary. However, it may be a good time to look at how you are managing your sales people.

[BMonkey]

Thanks everyone :)
The activity report is the only item I request from them, and I don't ask for a lot either.
Thanks to suggestions here and a little pow wow with the partner this morning, I am going to call a meeting with him every Friday at 4pm if he continues to not submit his Activity Log :D
The rest of my sales staff has absolutely zero difficulty turning in the activity log, it's just this one guy. He seems to have a problem with it. It's always more than adequate, it's just getting him to actually hand it over. The main reason I need it is for statistical purposes, it's not like I'm using it to check every little thing they do. However, I need to track sales that we get from the internet/CPAs etc....

[Steve B]

I'd consider getting rid of him. If he's not a model employee during his first month, he's unlikely to get any better. Why waste your time with someone that doesn't do such a simple thing when he should be working his butt off to impress you during his first few weeks.