Are all Sales Managers drunks?

Question

I only ask because in the last 8 years I have hired 4. Now I'm on my 5th (no pun intended). While "Mike" does a great job and has been resposible for increasing sales 23%, I have noticed that he is drunk most of the time. While I can overlook that, my staff has complained about him using the waste baskets for his, shall we say, oral relief. Last week he staggered into the company lunch room and urinated into the sink.
I would fire him but, from my experience, I won't be able to replace him with anything different. Am I wrong to assume that there is some sort of gene that makes Sales Managers susceptible the the influences of liquor?

Answer 1

I think intervention is called for. Show this sales manager that alcohol is one of the lousiest highs there is. Mix him an MDMA cocktail with a twist of Valium-Oxycontin-hydrocodone-butalbital. He'll never go back to Cutty Sark again and instead of being an obnoxious drunk he'll be vewwy vewwy quiet. Won't get much work done, but hey, morale is more important than profit, is it not?

Answer 2

NO!! Not all sales managers are drunks, only the burn-outs. If you have the resources to send this man to treatment, then by all means, do an intervention and send him in, but only if he agrees that he has a problem. If treatment is not an option, then his unemployment is nessessary.

Are you sure he is the one responsible for the increase in sales or did you hire some other salespeople around the same time you hired him? Take a look at your individual salespeoples records; it might surprise you.

Next, did you hire him from a different company? If so, why were they willing to let him go without a fight?

Have you ever considered hiring your manager from your sales staff? I am sure that you have at least one type-A person that really can run that sales force of yours.

If you are only looking for people who have managed before, or have the right degree, you my be missing out on the best managers out there; the ones with real front-line in your face, school of hard-knocks experience.

If your not interested in internal hiring, then I would suggest that you be a little tougher in your interviewing process, keep the interviews in the office, and definitely do some background checks. Of course, there are always two questions that I want to know the answer to:
1.) If this person is so good at what they do, why do they want to come to work for me?
2.) If this person is so good at what they do, why isn't their current company fighting to keep them with them?

Hope this helped :)

Answer 3

I am sorry that you're having a staff alcoholism problem.

That said, there is absolutely no truth to the suggestion that sales people have to be alcoholics. I've been in sales for several years and neither I nor my supervisors have had a drinking problem. And there are people who are successful salespersons who are teetotalers for personal or religious reasons.

The issue is the person, not the particular occupational position. Yes, depending on the company and industry, sales people do have to entertain clients but it doesn't require that you abuse alcohol in the process. Remember, IBM had a strict no-alcohol policy on company time for many years (I don't know if they still have this) and they were a very successful company. Also, on the other hand, other people who aren't sales people can also be alcoholics.

If you're having difficulty selecting sales managers who aren't drunks, you may need to recruit from another pool of persons. The other alternative may be, if you think he can still perform, and if you have the resources to do so, is to get him in to a rehab program with the stipulation if he slips up, he will be terminated.

Good luck and hope this helps.

Answer 4

Sales is tough since it isn't fun being told "no" all day. Sales folks need a buttress against the constant rejection. Some of the best sales folks just don't care when turned down. Others stay motivated with personal faith, PMA, competitive nature, etc. Some turn to the bottle or drugs.

You need to straighten your SM out or company morale will falter.

Answer 5

First of all, he is pissing in sinks and vomiting in trash cans?!?! Fire that loser before you are held responsible for his inappropriate actions. Then take the time in interviewing to really get the feel for a person. Give them a personality test or something. There are definitely people out there that can do ever bit of what this guy is doing without being drunk.

Answer 6

Sounds like you need to worry less about generalizing sales managers and more about getting hold of someone who knows how to properly interview and hire your management staff.

If you keep making the same error over and over (hiring drunks and pretending they are management material) and expecting different results each time, you're missing out on the joys of business ownership.

Answer 7

Yes, you are very wrong. One of the best DM's I have had was a born again Christian and he didn't drink at all. But others have been partiers. It goes with the personality traits of a sales person.
BTW, fire someone if they are peeing in the sink. You are going to have a lawsuit on your hands if he "exposes" himself whilst peeing.

Answer 8

Loose Change beat me to the punch, although my variation involved only a few bottles of Xanax.

And really now, there are worse things employees can do in lunch room, such as birthday cake gatherings with streamers and paper table cloths. Ghastly, I tell you.

Answer 9

Thats a tough situation to be in. I have noticed that a lot of people in SALES alone drink a lot. Whether it makes them more outgoing to make a sale or it's just their life choices, you have to ask them.
Let him know this behavior isn't acceptable, you can't lose other workers because some guy can't control himself - that isnt fair.

Answer 10

From what I have seen, if I worked at your place, I would take up heavy drinking as a hobby as well. HAHAHAHA!

Enjoy your day dear!