The job of a sales manager is to ensure the team is reaching their goals. In order for that to happen, everyone on the team has to pull their own weight. Therefore it is important for the sales manager to spread the work, and the wealth around. Every company has one or two salespeople that are the “superstars”, the ones that are consistently the best. While having those salespeople on staff is great, it can present some unique problems.

The obvious problem is if that “superstar” leaves and all of the sudden your team crashes. A sales manager must spread the work and make sure that any one salesperson is not handling too many accounts. It is also a good idea to assign multiple salespeople to your bigger accounts; so if one of the salesperson leaves, the ball does not get dropped.

The second problem is this: if you are counting on one or two salespeople, then you are not developing the other people on your staff. Again if your top people leave and you haven’t allowed your other salespeople to grow, then your sales are going to suffer. No one is saying that a manager should put their less experienced salespeople in charge of major accounts, but how are they ever going to be ready for those situations if their manager never gives them an opportunity?

In order to provide continuity, especially with the more important accounts, it is vital that a sales manager stays involved in those accounts. It doesn’t have to be on a day to day basis, of course, but staying on top of the salient details will be beneficial when salespeople do leave. Some of the things that a sales manager can do to in order to keep tabs on the bigger accounts include: quarterly checks, building relationships with the leaders of the organizations you are in business with, and getting regular updates. If a sales manager follows these guidelines, then the loss of one salesperson is much easier to handle.

A sales team is only as strong as its weakest member; it is the job of a smart sales manager to make sure every member of their team is ready to step up when asked. Salespeople come and go, don’t lose a sale because the next guy wasn’t ready to go.