Sales manager: Having spent my entire career in sales, most of that time as a sales manager for a large computer company, I know that natural superstar salespeople are rare. But many salespeople can perform like superstars if they have a good manager. Therefore, companies should _______.
Summary
The speaker starts by noting that natural superstar salespeople are rare. But, if they have a good manager, many regular salespeople can perform like superstars.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
The blank should be filled with a recommendation about what companies should do based on the fact that good managers can help regular salespeople perform like superstars. The speaker would likely recommend that companies should try have salespeople supervised by good managers.
A
devote more effort to training than to evaluating salespeople
Unsupported. We know that managers can improve performance of salespeople. But we don’t know whether this has to do with training. And we don’t know whether evaluation is less important than training.
B
devote more effort to finding good managers than to finding natural superstar salespeople
Strongly supported. Natural superstars are rare, but good managers can make regular salespeople perform like superstars. This is a strong reason for companies to focus more on finding good managers.
C
keep to a minimum the number of salespeople for which a manager is responsible
Unsupported. The stimulus doesn’t provide evidence about the optimum number of people a manager should supervise. We don’t even know whether supervising a lot of people is a bad thing.
D
promote more natural superstar salespeople to management positions
Unsupported. The stimulus doesn’t suggest that natural superstar salespeople will make better managers than regular salespeople.
E
reward superstar performance more than superstar talent
Unsupported. The stimulus doesn’t discuss rewards or what high performers should get.