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You are here: Home / Blog / Think about your boss as a customer.

Think about your boss as a customer.

June 23, 2014 By maurasf

Who do you think is your  most important customer?  Whether you work on straight commission or not, your most important customer is your manager. This tip from Harvard Business Review is a good one to help you build a stronger relationship with your  most important customer.

These are the questions the article suggests you ask your manager if you want a productive working relationship:

  • Do you prefer that information be delivered formally or informally?
  • “How do you like to process information?”
  • “How would you describe your management style?”

You have to know what your manager prefers in order for you to work effectively.  I’ve known managers who need time to decide, yet their sales staff insists on a quick reply.  What happens is the boss is uncomfortable and on some level you become the less preferred employee. That’s not something you want in sales.  You need everyone on your side and that means especially your boss!

I always added another question to the three questions that are above.  I asked all of my managers, “What can I do to make your job easier?”  I often got unexpected answers.  The one that surprised me the most was that no one had ever asked that before.  Yikes.  How’s that for unaware salespeople?  Others simply wanted to be made aware of problems as they developed.  I had one manager that said all he expected was for me to complete tasks on time.  That was a pretty low threshold to accomplish.

By asking I was able to learn quickly about a new manager and do what I needed to do to meet his requirements. (I never reported to a female.)  Your job is to meet and exceed your customer’s expectations.  You can do that for your manager when you know what your manager expects.

You have to ask.  I would schedule this on your calendar immediately if you don’t know the answer for your manager.

Here’s additional help to get an effective strategy to work with your manager.

Best wishes for your selling success!

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About the principal

Would you take auto mechanics classes when you buy a car? Maura did because she wanted to be able to work on her car. She takes that same approach to selling. She can show you how to get below the surface of selling to learn why and how different strategies work. She will show you which skills to implement that will shorten your sales cycle and increase your sales. She was Mobil Oil's first female Lubrication Engineer in the United States and one of Chevron's top 5 salespeople in the country. She knows what works for sales.

"I would recommend your work to other sales organizations who want to get better results from improved selling strategies."
Jamey Rootes
President
Houston Texans

Sales Expert at Allbusiness.com

Selling is the easiest job in the world. Just ask anyone who is not in sales. Read Maura’s ideas on “more brain…less mouth” selling to make your selling easier and more successful.

Maura’s Allbusiness blog posts

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