standard paychecks without enthu- siasm or commitment to their field. He wondered where the growth was. Although headhunters had told him he’d be perfect in sales, Sargent repeatedly resisted. But, when he couldn’t see another route where the career market promised rewards for performance, he reconsidered and joined the insurance company as a brokerage sales agent. He remembers on his first call, “I


feared either my knees would shake visibly or the client would hear my heart pounding through my shirt. It was like jumping into cold water. Once you do it, you realize it’s not that bad.”


He excelled – winning accolades as best salesman in the country in the “salespeople with less than two years experience” category and was one of the top five people in his 150-member division for two years running. But Sargent aspired to management as early as the interview process, so he considered this phase homework. Sargent seized his first chance to


his first day. Many new sales managers aren’t even that lucky.


For the Challenge


As an expanding economy drives up demand for sales reps and their man- agers, many would-be sales managers miss the opportunity to cash in, claims Gail Hedrick, president of a large city placement firm. She cautions any sales management neophyte to start with a plan. Ed Sargent – today, president of a Midwest insurance group – relied on strategy to make the change. As a philosophy instructor working on his Ph.D., he got discouraged watching tenured professors collect


cross the Great Divide and three times won the highest field honor: the Outstanding Agency Award. He continued his rise through promo- tions as the company merged with a huge player in the insurance arena, becoming president of the combined company’s financial advisors with top- and bottom-line responsibility for all retail, career, brokerage distribution, and sales and service of its portfolio of life, investment, and mutual fund products.


When the parent sold that child, he jumped to another life insurance company, jetting across the world to help English-speaking locals establish individual branches. The new com- pany wooed him by dangling a true leadership challenge: Turn its insur- ance division from a consolidator into an operator.


“That first day in sales, I thought I’d be in the business only a short time, then head back to teaching philosophy,” Sargent says. “But, as I developed, I had a vision of what


I could accomplish, and I’m chal- lenged by complexity. The larger, more difficult, and more challenging the role, the better.”


To Make It Sing Dee Carollo knows firsthand that sales involves more than merely picking up orders, loading household goods on a truck, and delivering it to the destina- tion. This corporate sales manager at one of the country’s oldest moving service and storage companies has been dedicated to making her rounds of the departments, including con- tracts, customer service, operations, and dispatch.


Armed with a bachelor’s degree in marketing earned during part-time work at the company, Carollo wowed her colleagues by creating and run- ning a relocation counseling ben- efit whose sole aim was to pamper such clients as Northwest Airlines, Northrup Grumman, and Deloitte & Touche through the corporate move experience. She was the go-to gal when a Hollywood A-list actor forgave the company its previous late-delivery boo-boo and extended a second chance with his next Hollywood move. This jeans-and-sweater-donning manager stayed in constant contact, winning the star’s respect and an invi- tation to enjoy an on-location filming. In four years until she was promoted to corporate customer service man- ager, Carollo grew the product line to become a multi-multimillion-dollar contributor to the company. Today her sales management role means she standardizes the company’s entire selling process from start to finish. Four account representatives – who, in turn, work with field agents in their territories – report to her office that is plastered with inspirational quotes on every wall.


The lesson? Work as hard as you can and never let up. Be creative and don’t be timid about trying out new ideas.


Growth Opportunity


Carl Karlsson started by using his BA in business administration in the field


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