What Makes a Great Sales Manager?

Besides understanding what it takes to sell successfully, great sales managers need to know how to lead.

Sales managers reap the benefits when their teams are performing well. To guide teams toward their best efforts, great managers understand what it takes to motivate team members. They know the individuals on their team…their strengths and weaknesses…and encourage their growth and development through supportive and instructive coaching.

Another aspect of sales leadership is the ability to build and articulate an effective sales strategy. Solution selling training requires an approach that should be modeled by the manager and practiced by the team. The objective is to design a well-conceived plan that focuses on the client’s business need and on bringing explicit and measurable value.

Sales managers help their team devise plans that work and assign salespeople to clients with whom they relate best. The better matched a salesperson is to their client and the opportunity, the more likely their success.