Of all the positions in your company, your sales manager may have the most influence when it comes to the sale of your products and services. Therefore, it’s critical that you hire the very best sales manager you can find. 

What factors should you consider as you search for a new sales manager? Consider the following:

Recruiting Skills

Your sales manager will be instrumental in attracting sales talent to your company, so be sure to find out if your candidates possess recruiting skills. It certainly helps if your new sales manager already has a large network of contacts in your local industry because then he or she will be able to find good sales reps more easily when you need them.

Sales Process Expertise

The most successful organizations have firmly grounded sales processes with consistent methodologies and tracking systems in place to guide sales through all necessary steps. Finding a sales manager with the skills to train and guide sales reps through your sales process will bring order and success to your company.

Coaching and Training Skills

Your sales reps will be happier and more successful if they have a sales manager who takes the time to train and coach them, both as a team and as individuals. Training and coaching don’t come naturally to most people, but these skills can certainly be learned. If you can find a gifted manager who brings out the best in each sales rep, your entire team will be strengthened.

A Long Vision

It’s all too easy for sales managers to get bogged down in the daily problems of their sales reps, but what you need is someone who can anticipate the future. What’s coming down the pike for your organization in the next quarter or the next year? A savvy sales manager will anticipate future issues like hiring, management needs, and expansions into new areas and figure out how to address these issues before they become emergencies.

A Healthy Self-Image

It takes confidence to be a good sales manager, but there’s a fine line between confident and egotistical. Egotistical people think about themselves and their images, and these people don’t usually make good managers. Good managers spend a lot of time thinking about their sales reps and how to help them to be more successful. 

Discipline

As you look for your new sales manager, look for a person who values discipline, both in himself or herself and also in an organization. A discipline-focused sales manager will create a culture of discipline among our sales reps. It takes discipline to ensure that your new sales process is being followed to the letter, and it also takes discipline to focus on building a pipeline for the next quarter instead of just focusing on today.

As you read through resumes and applications, and especially as you interview candidates for your sales manager position, pay attention to the above qualities. If you can find a sales manager who has these attributes and skills, you will have a leader in your organization with the capability to bring out the best in all of your sales reps, thus leading you to greater sales success.