Sales Manager Horror Stories?

Everyone has a manager (in some form) and from my experience most of them are under qualified and under trained.


I once had a sales manager who wanted to be CC'd on every email I sent (prospecting, proposal, follow up, renewal, everything). He'd "double check" in SFDC daily to make sure I was "complying"


What's your sales manager horror story?

๐Ÿงข Sales Management
๐Ÿฐ War Stories
14
sahil
Notable Contributor
9
Deepak Chopra of Sales
Had a boss who forced Xanax down the throat of an employee who was nervous about a sales call. No joke.
lisa
Notable Contributor
9
Product @ Bravado
What's his name and is he still hiring?
LordBusiness
Politicker
1
Chief Revenue Officer
Man. That's creepy.ย ย 
beachNsales
Politicker
1
Sales Manager
well thats uncomfortableย 
SalesPharaoh
Big Shot
0
Senior Account Executive
That's F*** up
YoureMuted
Executive
6
Regional Sales Director
My manager came straight from Marketing. Hasnโ€™t carried a bag a day in his life.ย 
ihatecomingupwithusernames
Good Citizen
1
AE
This one right here is infuriating lolย 
Salespreuner
Big Shot
1
Regional Sales Director
Could imagine๐Ÿ˜ญ
DwightsEgo
Politicker
1
BDR Manager
In an interview (got the job btw)..manager asked/said "youre not from new england, you grew up in the south- are you sure you'll be able to keep up with us up here? ;)"ย 

fired me up
LordBusiness
Politicker
0
Chief Revenue Officer
That could be a whole different post, "Stupid shit that's been said on interviews" - Love the Office reference in the name/avatar BTW.ย  Always forget Dwight's connection to sales on the showย 

salesita
Good Citizen
1
Enterprise Account Associate
I had a boss who told me I would just make up the calls I track - another one wanted to kiss me on a party and never spoke to me again after I refusedย 
LordBusiness
Politicker
1
Chief Revenue Officer
grossย 
Tanmocha_
Contributor
1
Senior Account Executive
Oh man, I was 18 & my first sales manager would constantly ask me to sleep with him. After I repeatedly declined, I was called into a meeting with 3 VPโ€™s who said I was being demoted to customer service for โ€œperformance.โ€ย 


I was consistently in the top 3 for almost 6 months at that point. LOL when I started to question them & defend myself, they told me that my lack of previous sales experience, the fact that I was the youngest one and that I was the only girl on the sales floor was also the reasoning behind demoting me.ย 

So I told them all to go fuck themselves and walked out. 5 other guys quit with me.
beachNsales
Politicker
0
Sales Manager
bruh. I'd start CC'ing him on emails to my mom
LordBusiness
Politicker
1
Chief Revenue Officer
๐Ÿ˜Ž๐Ÿ˜Ž
Stringer
Arsonist
0
SDR
One manager only did things for leverage over the team. He'd bring in donuts or order pizza for lunch. A few hours later it would be followed with, "Hey guys, let's do a phone blitz from 2 - 4 today." Except he doesn't make cold calls but he does get paid for cold call volume... This was before the company had figured out the commission structure and the fact that call volume means nothing.ย 
LordBusiness
Politicker
0
Chief Revenue Officer
Can always tell when a leader is full of shit.ย ย 
SalesHead
Opinionated
0
Enterprise AE
My first sales manager spent more time smoking in his truck than he did with the team. Out of the nine months I was an SDR, not one call coaching session. But guarantee that dude banged out 100 cartons of Marlborosย 
mcsalesperson1
Politicker
0
Account Executive
Constantly on PTO and not knowing what we sellย 
Money
Executive
0
Head of Sales
Loan sales manager I had back in 2010 was a grizzled boomer who never made it beyond frontline management. His branch was affectionately known as "Cell Block 22". A short list:

- If there were any homeless around the strip mall we operated in, he'd grab them by the shirt or kick them until they left. Every day.

- Told the team that we "ruined his commission check" if we missed in a month and that he didn't think it was fair that anyone got one.

- Took the team out for lunch and held the waitress hostage by slowly reducing her tip because she didn't smile enough. Ultimately he stiffed her and a few of us dropped some cash to cover when he walked away.

- Went to a home preservation event and told our diverse team upon return that he was surprise "how many negros were there."

He retired soon after. I hope he's dead.
LordBusiness
Politicker
1
Chief Revenue Officer
gross.ย 
SADNESSLieutenant
Politicker
0
Officer of โ™ฅ๏ธ
I once had a manager who made 95% turnover in the SDR's Yoy
neversettle
Politicker
0
SDR
Yep......got one of those! So I used to sell pharmaceuticals and I had a new manager assigned to me that had only 1 year of sales experience (his dad was high up in the company/nepotism). I made my numbers and my customers liked me but this guy really had it out for me for whatever reason. I was 6 months pregnant and he came down to ride with me in the field for a day. He borderline harrassed me after every call - calling me names, telling me I was his worst rep, etc... I went to my OB/GYN apt and explained the situation to her. My baby was a little on the small side for growth and she asked me if I wanted to do modified bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy. I said "hell yes!" I called him and told him that I was going out on bedrest and that he couldn't contact me for the remainder of my pregnancy/maternity leave. BEST feeling ever! He literally could not touch me bc I was protected by HR. While I was out he ended up getting fired for sexually harrassing another rep. Last I heard, he was working at a used car lot in some dipshit town. That old saying, "you reap what you sow" absolutely held true in my experience. Karma's a bitch!
BCD
Politicker
0
BDR
Had a manager start a rumor that I was sleeping with multiple people on the office (I wasnโ€™t). It was a small startup and it turned toxic real quick.ย 
The.Machine
Politicker
0
Sales Development Lead
My manager's face was a horror story in it's own. Not one bit of exaggeration.ย 
Cyberjarre
Politicker
0
BDR
My manager came straight from Marketing. Hasnโ€™t carried a bag a day in his life.
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