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You’ve hired a new Sales Manager, but how can you tell if you’ve made a great hire?
Whether you are a start-up CEO hiring your 1st sales leader, or a seasoned VP of Sales adding your 5th Manager, we all hire with the best of intentions. But until the rubber (expectations) meets the road (revenue), many are left wondering: Did I do right by my reps with this hire? Is this the right person to get us to goal?
To answer that question, I developed a quick checklist for the 90-day mark. It should give you a good indication of whether or not you have the correct person in the role.
Note: These are foundational issues and missing one or two is not a death knell, but missing too many is a major red flag.
At the 90 day mark, ask your new Sales Manager:
Your new Manager should be able to articulate a profile that includes company size, industry verticals, trigger events, and other attributes. [In other words - do they know enough to make sure your reps are targeting high probability accounts?]
Sales reps are competing for buyer time & attention. This requires that sellers master 1) concise language that goes beyond feature vagaries and 2) the ability to adapt messaging based on specific buyer profiles. [Are you comfortable that your new Manager has the ability to coach reps in this area?]
Your Sales Manager should be able to articulate an ideal rep profile. They also need to convey how they will attract, identify and close top sales talent. [Does this Manager have a plan to make your company stand out in a competitive hiring market?]
Make sure to focus on your new Manager’s orientation. Is their on-boarding plan focused on you (your product, your process, your systems)? Or does it start with your buyers (their challenges, their unanticipated problems, their process)? [Conversations that sell are no longer about the seller but focus on the buyer.]
You should expect to hear their coaching schedule, the amount of time spent on coaching, and the types of coaching they are using (ride-alongs, listening to calls etc.) You’ll also want to pay attention to how they plan on providing feedback to the reps. [Is your new Manager someone who can grow the team’s skill or just manage to status quo?]
The most successful managers are able to integrate themselves into other functional areas of the organization. Something as simple as grabbing lunch with a field marketing manager can have a huge impact on the effectiveness of their team. [Is this Manager stove-piped in Sales or are they leveraging all available resources?]
Great managers can share with you their communication plan in terms of frequency, content, media etc. [A solid proactive communication plan is the key to success and will keep you out ahead of any problems.]
Your manager should be able to articulate how many customers (not prospects) they have had conversations with in the last 30 days and what they learned from those conversations. [Understanding how customers perceive your organization is a critical component of success and sales managers need to have a finger on the pulse of buyers.]
This checklist can be the foundation for a great conversation with your new Sales Manager. It can also serve as an action plan to address areas of concern.
What did I overlook? What other areas need to be included?
Trish was recently named one of the Top 25 Most Influential in Inside Sales by the AA-ISP for the fourth year running. Her research & ideas have been featured in Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, Inc.com & Success Magazine.
Since founding The Bridge Group in 1998, Trish has promoted Inside Sales as a community, profession and engine for revenue growth. In the process, she & her team have worked with over 220 B2B companies to build, expand and optimize their inside sales efforts.
