Faulkner: Top 3 Controllable and High-Impact Activities for Regional Sales Managers

Planning the week, leading from the field, and personally knowing top accounts are the three most controllable, high-impact activities for a regional sales manager in the automotive aftermarket. These are things you can execute every single week, regardless of market conditions or corporate initiatives. This column positions you not as a strategist in an office, but as a field leader who organizes, focuses, and drives the revenue fight where it actually happens.

1. Plan Your Week: Win on Paper Before You Drive a Mile

Most sales weeks are lost before Monday at 9 a.m. because there is no clear plan. Reps jump from fire to fire, chasing the loudest customer instead of the most valuable opportunity. As a regional sales manager, your first revenue-generating activity is to ensure every week is designed with intention.

Planning your week starts with three questions:

• Which accounts have the highest revenue upside right now?
• Which activities actually move dollars (visits, quotes, conversions, line expansion, recovery of lost business)?
• How will the team use each day to drive those outcomes?

On Friday afternoon or early Monday, block 30 to 60 minutes to build a simple weekly blueprint:

• Identify your "Big 3" revenue moves for the week (for example: win back a key account, expand a category at a large shop group, or drive adoption of a new line).
• Lock in field days and ride-alongs with specific reps and accounts, not vague "territory coverage."
• Schedule time for follow-up: quotes, proposals, and open issues that are sitting between "maybe" and "yes."

Share this plan with your team so they see what you are prioritizing and why. When everyone sees that your calendar is built around revenue-critical activities, it sets the expectation that theirs should be too. A planned week does not eliminate surprises, but it ensures that interruptions are the exception, not the operating model.

2. Lead in the Field: Be the Most Visible Salesperson

In the automotive aftermarket, credibility is built in shops, counters, and service bays, not in conference rooms or Zoom calls. As a regional sales manager, your second major revenue activity is to lead from the field. Your presence with customers and reps is a force multiplier: it sharpens the team's skills, strengthens relationships, and uncovers growth opportunities that never appear in a report.

Leading in the field means:

• Riding with reps regularly, not as a critic, but as a co-seller. You model pre-call planning, discovery questions, and how to position value instead of price.
• Joining key customer visits with a clear role: to remove roadblocks, commit resources, negotiate programs, or deepen trust, not to "hover" and take over every conversation.
• Using every ride-along as a coaching session. Before each call, align on an objective. After the call, debrief what worked, what didn't, and what the next step is. Capture one concrete skill the rep can practice that week (closing language, handling objections, presenting bundles, etc.).

When you consistently lead from the field, three things happen. Reps take preparation more seriously because they know you will be there. Customers see your company's commitment and are more willing to discuss real growth plans. And you, as the manager, stay grounded in what the market actually needs, which informs smarter pricing, inventory, and program decisions.

3. Personally Know Your Top Accounts: Protect and Grow the Core

Every region has a small group of accounts that carry a disproportionate share of the revenue and profit. Your third, and arguably most important, activity is to personally know those top accounts far beyond what a dashboard can tell you. When you know the people, pressures, and plans behind the numbers, you can both protect that revenue and help it grow.

Start by defining your "Top 20" or "Top 50" accounts in the region. For each one, you should be able to answer:

• Who are the real decision-makers and influencers? (Owner, service manager, lead techs, parts manager, etc.)
• What are their priorities this year? (More car count, faster turn times, better margins, new services, growth via acquisition.)
• Where do we stand with them today? (Share of spend, competitive threats, service issues, recent wins and losses.)

Commit to a personal touch with each of these accounts:

• Regular on-site visits or calls where you ask bigger-picture questions, not just "How are we doing?"
• Quarterly check-ins that feel like a partnership review: what's working, what isn't, and what new value you can bring (training, inventory programs, marketing support, new product lines).
• Rapid response when something goes wrong. When a key account has a serious issue (backorder problem, billing error, delivery failure), you step in quickly, own it, and fix it. That kind of response creates loyalty competitors cannot easily buy.

Personally knowing top accounts also gives you an early warning benefit. You hear about competitor activity, new locations, or changing business models before it shows up in the numbers. That allows you to play offense instead of constantly playing defense.

Bringing It Together: Your Weekly Operating System

• Plan your week so every day has purpose and is anchored to a small number of high-impact revenue moves.
• Lead in the field so your team sees, feels, and learns what great selling looks like in real customer situations.
• Personally know your top accounts so the region's core revenue is protected, nurtured, and consistently expanded.