Categories: Sales Coaching Tools | Front-line Managers | Sales Leadership | Talent Management
Top sales teams differentiate themselves with a proven system for finding and attracting elite talent. But landing strong candidates is only the first step in the journey. The best organizations know how to retain sellers with the most potential and ensure they’re positioned to perform and excel as they advance up the ranks.
Making the move from sales rep to manager is a common career pathway. Some individuals may not be ready for this transition today, but could become ready with time and development. Others may prefer to remain as individual contributors. Learn to recognize the difference so that you can make wise choices in offering promotions. Support your entire team by using the following tips to identify management potential and lay the foundation for new manager success.
Here are six attributes to look for in sales manager candidates:
1. Able to manage themselves
Start here: if they can’t manage themselves, their calendar, and their job responsibilities, they’re not going to be able to manage a group of other people.
2. Already mentored someone successfully
There are many types of mentor-mentee relationships, but mentors with a track record of creating good outcomes for their mentees are solid bets for management.
3. The thought of managing others energizes them
Does the idea of managing other people provide them motivation and enthusiasm, or does it diminish these feelings? Some individuals are inspired by the charge, while others find it a burden. You can't teach this trait so it's important to note their gut instinct.
4. Ready to put themselves second
Managing is about serving others; being one means giving up the right to put yourself first. Some individuals might come around to this mindset with time and maturity, while others might never be willing to make the sacrifice.
5. Knowledge of what good looks like at your company
Even natural-born leaders will flail when they don’t know the playing field or rules. Being a manager is about coaching; they’ve got to be experts on coaching the critical activities that impact sales.
6. Prior success at accomplishing things through others
Being able to delegate isn’t enough. Will people follow? Ask each candidate: “Tell me examples of times you accomplished something by assigning tasks and responsibilities to other people.”
Developmental Strategies that Lead to New Manager Success
When a sales rep has most of the preferred qualities but lacks managerial experience, starting them out with a mentoring relationship is a great strategy. A seasoned rep can get a taste of management by helping with onboarding or leading a training exercise. In this episode of the the Audible Ready Sales Podcast, John Kaplan describes how leaders can use this tactic to guide development:
Listen to "Moving into a Sales Manager Role" on Spreaker.Next, give new managers a strategy for coaching and providing effective feedback. The shift they’re making is from doing to showing. They’ll need a framework for passing along the skills and knowledge that helped them stand out and get promoted. Give them a simple coaching model to begin with, like this one:
1. Tell somebody what’s expected
2. Show them how to do it
3. Watch them do it
4. Provide feedback
Lastly, provide the technology tools that drive execution. Help facilitate coaching with embedded tools that provide visibility and metrics to direct coaching sessions. Adopt a training and assessment rhythm for onboarding and ongoing reinforcement that drives a consistent organizational selling motion. Relieve your managers of burdensome tasks like collecting data and gathering deal information by providing them with tools that leverage data visibility into technology-enabled coaching.
Develop All-Stars At Every Touchpoint
Identifying good candidates for promotion and providing strong foundational support are critical leadership competencies—the keys to maximizing returns on your greatest investment: your talent.
The Sales Manager role deserves great consideration because of the influence and weight they carry at the front line. But typical customer lifecycles have many touchpoints and handoffs, from lead generation to post-implementation. There are many opportunities to capture and convey value in customer-facing roles beyond sales reps and managers. Learn additional strategies for maximizing the impact of your talent at every stage of the customer journey with Brian Walsh, Force Management’s Managing Director, in our recent webinar: Driving a Revenue Mindset. Watch on-demand here.
