---
title: "Sales Director's Methods for 'Disciplining' Disobedient Subordinates"
description: "A sales director asks how to handle regional sales managers who ignore headquarters' directives. The author suggests methods such as shrinking sales territories, rotating new managers, establishing a system where everyone is replaceable, using policy incentives, and ignoring or freezing out troublesome subordinates, emphasizing that managers must adapt their approach to each individual."
author: "郝志强"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2015-03-13"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/sales-director-s-methods-for-disciplining-disobedient-subordinates-d7501e9a/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/sales-director-s-methods-for-disciplining-disobedient-subordinates-d7501e9a.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/NDHhmOvon0LgzpvoSjgL-w"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E9%94%80%E5%94%AE%E8%80%81%E6%80%BB-%E6%95%B4%E6%B2%BB-%E4%B8%8D%E5%90%AC%E8%AF%9D%E4%B8%8B%E5%B1%9E%E7%9A%84%E5%87%A0%E7%A7%8D%E6%96%B9%E6%B3%95-d7501e9a.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/sales-director-s-methods-for-disciplining-disobedient-subordinates-d7501e9a/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# Sales Director's Methods for 'Disciplining' Disobedient Subordinates

> A sales director asks how to handle regional sales managers who ignore headquarters' directives. The author suggests methods such as shrinking sales territories, rotating new managers, establishing a system where everyone is replaceable, using policy incentives, and ignoring or freezing out troublesome subordinates, emphasizing that managers must adapt their approach to each individual.

A student once asked me: "I'm in charge of national sales as the sales director, but many regional sales managers don't follow orders. What should I do? How can I make them listen? If they keep going their own way, the company will be ruined." Hearing this, I felt both amused and annoyed. A director who can't manage his own subordinates is quite something.

In any company, superiors are naturally more powerful than subordinates, so superiors should be compassionate and tolerant to earn subordinates' loyalty. Confucius said: "A ruler should employ his ministers with propriety, and ministers should serve their ruler with loyalty." When problems arise between superiors and subordinates, the superior should rely on communication, not tricks or power plays. But sometimes, for certain subordinates, tolerance is not enough; they won't appreciate your leniency but will see it as weakness. Here are some methods I've seen and used to "discipline" subordinates.

1. Shrink the sales territory. If a branch manager defies headquarters, it's likely because they have outstanding performance or a solid backing. Headquarters can follow the "whip the fast ox" approach, assigning them even bigger tasks, making the capable do more. Of course, first you should praise and encourage them, give them a title like "Annual Sales Model" to boost them up and put them in a box. Under such a title and public scrutiny, they'll have to accept the task. If they complete it, great; but if resources are insufficient, they may fail. If they fail for two or three consecutive months, you'll have an excuse to "discipline" them. First, help them analyze the reasons, using "data to speak." The areas with good sales performance can remain under their management, but the poorly performing areas should be cut out and given to others. For example, if they previously managed the entire Shandong market, you can separate Qingdao and set up a branch or office, creating a dual-core operation. A smaller branch, even with good performance, will have limited share of the company's overall business and won't cause trouble. Then they'll have to listen to you, not threaten you. From this perspective, the smaller the sales territory, the better. Headquarters should foster competition among branches. If the Xiamen branch does well, it can merge with Fuzhou, or even expand to Shantou. If Henan branch underperforms, Xinyang can be given to Wuhan branch. In the struggle for survival among branches, headquarters holds the initiative. So in sales management, the approach to territory division is: don't start with large territories; keep them as small as possible while meeting sales targets. Encouraging constant mergers and expansions is the way to maintain company vitality.

2. Send in new people to follow and gradually transition. The sales team should be a living water system; flow is normal. Therefore, continuously recruit new managers, promote sales supervisors to managers, and "force out" old managers, creating a culture of "advance or be eliminated." In a company I previously served, we held annual elections for branch general manager positions. Anyone could apply, pass qualification review, and participate in the election at headquarters. Those who performed well, had ideas, and had results would become candidates for branch GM and be sent as assistant GMs to various places to get a feel for the role. If headquarters found a branch GM problematic or mischievous, these people were natural "backups." To avoid difficulties for newcomers and prevent internal corruption, the principle of serving in a different location should be followed.

3. Establish a management system where everyone is replaceable. From a management perspective, a smart manager builds a system where all subordinates are replaceable—not that they should all be replaced, but as a state of readiness. Headquarters should hold its fate in its own hands, or in the hands of a team, not an individual. Individuals are not trustworthy; teams are relatively trustworthy; trusting oneself is safest. Therefore, within a branch, the GM should not have the final say alone. For financial and logistics matters, the GM's word is not final. Do not give branch GMs the power to appoint financial managers; they only have administrative authority. The financial manager, in turn, has financial oversight over the branch GM. Business matters are handled directly between the branch business manager and headquarters' sales department, not through the GM. The GM is essentially sidelined, becoming a figurehead, a management supervisor representing the company. To some extent, this creates a "separation of powers" among the GM, business manager, and financial manager, providing effective checks and balances. Under such a system, it's understandable for branches to negotiate with headquarters, but defiance will be dealt with. The GM position is important, but the individual in that position is not.

4. Use policy as a guide. Headquarters' directives cannot be mere slogans; relying on slogans to drive branches is impossible. Instead, incorporate the indicators headquarters requires branches to execute into performance assessments, linking them to branch interests. If you stipulate sales targets, management standards, accounts receivable control, and expense levels, just shouting these slogans is useless. You must include these indicators in each person's assessment; those who fail to meet them will suffer in terms of benefits. If they fail repeatedly, consider replacing them. For sales assessment, use task completion rate to compare performance, not just absolute numbers. Absolute numbers lack comparability, but completion rates reveal true differences between branches. This way, headquarters is less threatened by high-volume branches and can control the overall situation.

5. Don't meet, don't respond, don't pay attention. If the person's mischief is minor and they can still be reformed, you need to give them a shock, making them realize the authority of headquarters and the director is inviolable. Then, don't call them for two months. Even if they call to report, listen briefly and speak coldly. Don't proactively ask them to speak at meetings. Even if they finish speaking, don't give much feedback. In other words, "freeze" the person. In such a cold environment, subordinates often wish the boss would scold them. "Freezing" can prompt self-reflection, making them realize that not following company orders is wrong, that the boss is unhappy, and they should reflect on their mistakes and turn back.

There are many other methods to discipline subordinates. Managers cannot be without methods, nor can they rely on just one; systematic use is effective. Confucius said: "In education, there should be no class distinctions." The same applies to management: face different subordinates with different approaches. Whatever method, as long as it achieves the goal of subordinates obeying superiors and acting according to the company's intentions, it is a good method.

Are these methods too unconventional or unethical? Do they violate management principles? The ancients said: "When righteous people use unorthodox methods, the unorthodox becomes righteous; when unrighteous people use orthodox methods, the orthodox becomes unrighteous."

Reply with the following keywords to categorize and read related professional articles: Sales Supervisor, Second-tier Management, Regional Manager, Distributor Management, New Channels, City Manager, Competition, 2015, Manufacturer-Dealer Game, Product Stagnation, Terminal Visit Management, Route Management, Deep Distribution, Internal Management, Sales Skills, Profit Enhancement, Recruitment, Distribution, Daily Management, Team Motivation, Trade Promotion, Sales Misconceptions, New Product Launch, Township Market, New Product Pricing, Sales Target Achievement, Closing, Market Visit and Inspection, Baijiu, Beer, Sales Increase, Agency Products, Channel Crossing, KA, Terminal Merchandising, New Market, Market Operation, Learning, Book Recommendations, Inventory Management, New Salespeople, Consumer Promotion, Execution, Old Products, Expired Product Handling, Model Market, Franchise Recruitment, New Media, Distributor Development, Performance Appraisal, Assessment, Annual Planning, Shopping Guide, Morning Meeting, Display, Transformation, Inventory Pressure, Festivals, Distributor Cost Control, Channel Operation, Marketing Theory and Laws, Brand Truth, Order Conference, Team Management, Training, Debriefing, Debriefing Report.


---

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671