When junior Business Managers forget (too quickly) that they are salespeople

There is an astonishing paradox in many ESNs or consulting companies: they recruit young business managers with the promise of a rich position, combining mission management, consultant support, and client relationships. But once in office, reality quickly catches up with them. The famous "managerial" dimension so emphasized during recruitment becomes secondary to an immediate expectation: prospect, prospect, prospect.

However, these young BMs are, in the majority of cases, neither trained nor prepared for this mission. They do not come from the commercial world, have received neither the basics of sales nor the codes of B2B prospecting. Result: they discover a profession that has been poorly explained to them, often left to their own devices, with the only reference points being CRM tools to fill out and KPIs to reach.

Telephone prospecting then becomes a trial. An ungrateful activity, perceived as mechanical, repetitive, and above all marked by rejection. Because the dominant culture is often that of volume: you have to "make your calls," reach quotas, take action without thinking too much. And since they haven't been taught to do otherwise, they reproduce what they see... or what they guess.

Except that what they see doesn't always help. Because many seniors, caught up in managing their consultants, administrative work, or responding to tenders, almost no longer prospect. They give advice, set goals, sometimes organize briefings, but no longer open new doors themselves. In other words, they no longer embody the commercial dimension of the profession. And without a model to follow, it's difficult for a junior to project themselves, motivate themselves, or even progress.

Very quickly, some take refuge in other tasks. They manage schedules, organize interviews, take care of team life. Anything but picking up the phone. Anything but following up with a client or daring a direct approach. As if the heart of the job was elsewhere.

But a business manager who does not learn to love prospecting is a business manager at risk of missing out on what makes the richness and impact of their role. Because prospecting is not just about "disturbing people": it's about initiating relationships, creating value, being at the origin of what will make the company thrive tomorrow.

So how to put the commercial function back at the heart of the job?

First, train young BMs from their arrival, and not only on the tools. A real, practical, and contextualized training that shows them how to identify a target, prepare a call, spark interest, handle an objection, and conclude a first exchange. Not by dictating scripts to them, but by helping them find their own style.

Next, it is essential to give meaning back to prospecting, by moving away from a purely quantitative logic. It's not because you make 100 calls that you're more effective. What matters is the quality of the exchanges, the relevance of the message, the consistency in effort. Better 10 well-thought-out calls than 50 seamless calls with no clear intention.

Finally, seniors must set the example. Nothing is more formative for a junior than seeing an experienced manager pick up the phone to make a prospecting call or follow up with a prospect. Not to prove something, but to embody what they expect from others. The commercial posture is transmitted through action, not slides.

Relearning to be commercial is not a step back. It is a return to the essentials.