Transitioning from Sales Representative to First Line Manager

In this episode of the Revenue Builders podcast, our hosts John McMahon and John Kaplan talk to four-time Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) and current president of OE Connection, Kelly Connery. Kelly talks about his sales journey from sales rep to CRO, and the wealth of knowledge that he has acquired through the years. Tune in to hear Kelly talk about selling on the go, dynamics of leadership in large companies, and why selfless leaders are the ones you want to put in charge of running your organization.

Additional Resources:

• Donate to the families of Houston’s police officers and firefighters who died or were injured in the line of duty: https://the100club.org/
• Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyconnery/
• Check out Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck — Why Some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Choice-Uncertainty-Luck-Why-Despite/dp/0062120999
• Listen to More Revenue Builders: https://www.forcemanagement.com/revenue-builders-podcast

HIGHLIGHTS

• Having a framework to follow makes success repeatable 
• The challenges of moving up from sales rep to first-line manager
• Should front-line managers own recruiting?
• The difference between second-line and first-line managers 
• Great leaders are always great with people 
• Good leaders move from being selfish to being selfless 
• The realities and challenges of being a CRO 

QUOTES

Kelly on what it takes to be a great leader: “The more that as a leader you can be selfless, and the more that you can get everybody on the team to understand that it's not about them, it's about the team — the better leader you're going to be and the better team you're going to have. It's going to go pretty far.”

Kelly on why creating and implementing a sales process is not micromanagement: "All great teams have a recipe that they care enough about and have taken time enough to document it because then they can scale and you can teach it to others. You can help people move to consciously competent and unconsciously competent. That's not micromanagement, that's truly caring about making your people successful."

Kelly's advice for first-line managers moving up to the next level: "When you're communicating through leaders, the smallest bit of distortion in your message can be way off the coordinates by the time it lands with the broader team.. So, I had to get really good at speaking crisply and clearly with very clear intent of the message we were trying to send on top of the play book and operational aspects."

Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064