Middle Management is Killing your Sales

[Ed Brooks]

The phenomenon is the Peter Principle, which states that "in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence", meaning that employees tend to be promoted until they reach a position at which they cannot work competently. 

 

[mikedececco]

Great Post Joe... You're completely spot on.  I remember way back in the day when my Sales Manager at my first internet job would say "Don't show me an e-mail, show me a customer.. then I'll give you a price."  I would just bypass him and give out prices because I was more savvy than he was in the DMS and wasn't going to leave customers hanging because of his ignorance. Man, that guy was terrible... So glad you wrote this and I hope some GMs and DPs read it!

 

[Stan Sher (blog)]

or kissed the right @ss 

 

[Jeff Kershner]

I was reading a sent email just the other day inside of our CRM. The email had been sent out from one of the BDC reps.

Within seconds of briefing over the horrid response I knew exactly who was to blame and it was NOT the BDC rep. The words in the email oozed the words of a middle manager conveying to the BDC agent "tell the customer if they want the best price they need to come in" and this was NOT the first response to a 3rd party price quote email either. This was after a few exchanges and building of rapport.

This happens all day long. Middle management has been conditioned to work the pay plan. Many times the pay plan dictates the reaction - especially in the used car operation.

 

[Stan Sher]

Joe,
 
There is a reason why I wrote this article "It's the internet manager's fault..."
 
Everything that you mention in this article is exactly what this BDC Manager had to deal with.  What is even more amazing is that after turning the BDC around in a super short time this person was still thrown under the bus by a middle manager who thinks he is a GM.
 
Check out the article right here It's the internet manager's fault...