As your business expands, there may come a time when you need to think about hiring a manager to lead your sales department. This is a crucial decision that should not be taken lightly, as the right sales manager will have a massive impact on your business. But what are the qualities of a good sales manager? Here’s what you need to know.
A sales manager is usually responsible for hiring, training, and managing sales staff members. So it stands to reason that you’d want a great salesperson for the job, right? But, unfortunately, it’s not that easy.
Before you start thinking about promoting from within, it’s often said that the best salespeople can make the worst managers. This is because the necessary skills for sales managers and salespeople are different, even if there is some overlap. For example, your top salesperson might understand how to sell without the qualities of a good sales manager.
For example, salespeople naturally find ways to tell people what they want to hear. Their goal is connection and camaraderie, and they strive to avoid conflict. Unfortunately, this can make it hard for salespeople to provide honest feedback to their direct reports.
It’s also hard for a salesperson to entrust a client they know very well to a new hire. Their instinct is to do anything to preserve the relationship, but a good manager must let their team make mistakes to learn from them. Jumping in to smooth things with a client removes the opportunity for the new hire to learn to handle that situation.
A great sales manager will have all the experience of a great salesperson combined with the traits of a great leader. Here are three essential qualities of good sales managers that you should look for, whether hiring an external candidate or promoting from within:
Do you want more sales manager tips ? As a retail and e-commerce business coach, I can help you define and evaluate the perfect sales manager for your business. Fill out my contact form to schedule a free video coaching session, and we can discuss the skills needed for a sales manager.
Coach Dave
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