Sales & Marketing Management - September/October 2008 - (Page 6)

EDITOR’S LETTER WWW.SALESANDMARKETINGMANAGEMENT.COM Let workers decide what’s best for them One of the most fascinating theories I’ve ever heard about the human workforce is The Peter Principle. First introduced by Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull in their 1968 book by the same name, The Peter Principle states that in a hierarchy, people tend to be promoted to their level of incompetence. In other words, when workers perform well in a given position, they are eventually promoted to a higher one, with more responsibilities and challenges. If they perform well in that position, they proceed up the ladder to the next one. This process repeats over and over until people assume a position that they aren’t so good at, and that’s where they stay. If it sounds counterintuitive, that’s because it is. But don’t kid yourself; the process is alive and well in many companies. Part of the reason is the American aversion to taking a step backward, in any situation, at any point in life. It brings to mind one of my fifth-grade classmates; he was the youngest boy in the class.Because he was the youngest,he was the smallest,and because he was the smallest,he was frequently picked on by his more developed peers. His confidence suffered and his grades dropped. At the end of the school year, the teachers advised his parents to hold him back a grade, eventually convincing them it was in his best interests. The next year he made a quantum leap in his grades, social skills and self esteem, proving that taking a step back isn’t necessarily an admission of failure. In speaking with ADP’s Mark Gleason for this month’s cover story (see page 18), I couldn’t help but admire the company’s approach to career development for their salespeople.Too many companies rush to promote successful sales reps into management without a clear transition plan. If they don’t duplicate their sales success as manager, they are viewed as failures—they “just couldn’t hack it at the next level,”or they “didn’t have what it takes.”Admittedly, that is sometimes the case. Not everyone is cut out to be a manager, just as some people aren’t built for sales. So what’s wrong with that? It’s the classic case of letting better be the enemy of good. People are most successful when they are doing a job that they enjoy. By allowing salespeople to explore a management role in a structured, step-by-step approach, ADP ensures that they advance at a pace that is best for them—and that includes coming to the decision that they just prefer selling to managing. The reward is a vibrant, dynamic company that thrives because it has the right people, in the right places, doing all of the right things. Now that is a sound management philosophy. GROUP PUBLISHER DANIEL J. CORCORAN (646) 654-5107 (646) 654-7367, Fax Daniel.Corcoran@nielsen.com ADVERTISING SALES National Sales Director JASON WAFALOSKY (610) 792-2481 Jason.Wafalosky@nielsen.com Las Vegas Travel Sales Manager PETER V. EDMUNDS (714) 963-3499 Peter.Edmunds@nielsen.com Account Executive MIKE GANGEL (646) 654-5318 Mike.Gangel@nielsen.com MARKETING Marketing Director/Travel and Performance Group ROBERT KUWADA (646) 654-5159 Robert.Kuwada@nielsen.com Marketing Associate JENNIFER GINSBERG (646) 654-7210 Jennifer.Ginsberg@nielsen.com PRODUCTION Group Production Director BERRYL SCHIFFER (646) 654-7302 Berryl.Schiffer@nielsen.com Production Manager JAY KAPLAN (646) 654-7310 Jay.Kaplan@nielsen.com Sales & Marketing Management is published by Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Nielsen Business Media President: GREG FARRAR Senior Vice President, Human Resources: MICHAEL ALICEA Senior Vice President, Marketing: MARK HOSBEIN Senior Vice President, Finance: DEREK IRWIN Senior Vice President, Entertainment: GERRY BYRNE Senior Vice President, Marketing, Media & Visual Arts: SABRINA CROW Senior Vice President, Retail: DAVID LOECHNER Senior Vice President, Online: LINDA MCCUTCHEON Senior Vice President, Building & Design: JOE RANDALL Senior Vice President, Central Services: MARY KAY SUSTEK Vice President, Licensing: HOWARD APPELBAUM Vice President, Manufacturing & Distribution: JENNIFER GREGO Vice President, Audience Marketing: JOANNE WHEATLEY Michael McCue Editor in Chief michael.mccue@nielsen.com 6 SALES&MARKETING MANAGEMENT SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 FINALIST FOR THE 2005 JESSE H. NEAL NATIONAL BUSINESS JOURNALISM AWARD FOR BEST SINGLE ISSUE, AND WINNER IN 2004 FOR BEST REGULARLY FEATURED DEPARTMENT WINNER OF NATIONAL AND REGIONAL EDITORIAL AWARDS AT THE 27TH ANNUAL AMERICAN SOCIETY OF BUSINESS PUBLICATION EDITORS AWARDS COMPETITION 2004 WINNER OF TWO REGIONAL DESIGN AWARDS FROM THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF BUSINESS PUBLICATION EDITORS www.salesandmarketing.com www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - September/October 2008

Sales &�Marketing Management - September/October 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Brian Tracy University Smart Sales Sales Strategy Smart Marketing Marketing Strategy Smart Management Management Strategy The Low-Cost Sales Leader Why Sales Process Gets the Shaft Training Q&A Technology Making the Case for Travel (Part II) Travel/Meetings On the Road The Way I See It

Sales & Marketing Management - September/October 2008

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