As Matt Greer drove to work, he smiled, recalling the meeting at the end of the previous day. Inez Rodriguez, the founder and owner of the company where he worked, USA Hospital Supply, had summoned him to her office where she shook his hand and exclaimed, “Congratulations!”
As they settled into chairs, Inez reviewed the conversation she’d had with the company’s board of directors that morning: USA Hospital had been growing steadily for the past 10 years despite the economy’s ups and downs.
Although Inez had always been an insightful and enthusiastic leader of her five-person sales team, the increased sales activity was becoming too difficult to manage along with her other obligations. She needed a leader who could focus exclusively on sales.
She had interviewed several candidates outside the firm as well as members of her current sales team, which included Matt and two other reps. In the end, Inez told Matt, the choice was obvious: He was far and away the best sales rep on the team, he had extensive knowledge of the company’s product mix, and if anyone could help the sales team achieve its goals, it was Matt. She offered him the job as the company’s first sales manager. He eagerly accepted. When he left work that evening, he was bursting with ideas, full of confidence.
Now Matt pulled into the office park where USA Hospital was located and found a parking space in the lot outside the one-story office and warehouse facility. As usual, he was one of the first employees to arrive. By habit, he strode toward his cubicle, but after a second, he recalled that Inez had arranged for the small firm’s accountant and computer systems manager to share an office so Matt could have an office of his own. He entered his new space and settled into the chair behind his desk.

At that instant, his confidence began to give way to nervousness. Matt realized that although he knew a lot about selling supplies to hospitals and doctor’s offices, he had never given much thought to managing. Obviously, he mused, his job was to see that his department met or exceeded its sales targets. But how?
Matt needed to write down some ideas. He typed out a list of the four sales reps: Usha, Kyle, Tyreke, and Emma.
Emma handled the large corporate accounts, Usha covered the East Coast, Tyreke called on accounts in the South, and Kyle handled the Midwest. Until today, Matt had been building a fast-growing territory west of the Mississippi. Now who was going to do that? Matt was tempted to keep that work for himself; he knew he could build a base of loyal clients better than anyone. Still, he wondered whether he could excel as a manager and as a sales rep at the same time.
While he was pondering that challenge, Emma walked past the door and, without stopping, politely called, “Congratulations!”
through the doorway. Matt’s heart sank as he realized that Emma had also wanted this job. They had always enjoyed a friendly rivalry as talented salespeople;
now what would happen to their relationship? Matt glanced at his inbox and saw status reports from Tyreke and Kyle, both of whom were out with clients. What about Usha? Matt wasn’t sure he remembered her plans for this week.
Obviously, he needed to catch up on what everyone was doing, and that gave him a new idea. He could build on his strengths by traveling with each of the sales reps and coaching them. That way, he could show them all his proven methods for closing a sale, and they could learn to sell as well as he did. Matt thought, “That’s what a good manager does: Shows employees how to do the job right.” He was starting to feel less nervous as he began to write an email to his team.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. How will Matt’s approach to quality and service affect his company’s performance?
2. Which of the basic functions of management has Matt considered? How well is he preparing to carry out these functions?
3. Which management skills does Matt have? In what areas do you think he has the greatest need to develop skills? How can he actively manage his development as a manager?