How to Hire the Right Sales Manager | Business 2 Community

The importance of choosing the best sales manager for your company can?t really be overstated. No other role is as closely tied to the company?s bottom-line on a day to day scale.

It?s impossible to put together a universal list of what to look for in every sales management role, but below are some general guidelines, broken into three main categories, to keep your interview process on the right path.

Strong Sales Management Candidates Display Personability

• Your new sales manager has to adapt to the existing corporate culture easily; integration into any existing sales team shouldn?t be something you foresee as a headache once you?ve handed the candidate an offer letter.
• A long and still-developing history of strong client relationships indicates someone who isn?t a bridge-burner.
• This is someone who must seem energized, enthusiastic and on the upswing of career. Nothing drags down a sales organization like a pessimistic or lackadaisical manager.
• Very strong employment stability bodes well, due to the importance of the position and the ill-effects of a potential turnover.

The Best Sales Management Candidates Actually Know Sales

• Even if the role involves no sales ownership directly, advance candidates who display strong consultative sales skills in the first interview; they?ll pass those skills on to the sales team.
• The sales manager you recruit should come on board with a thorough understanding of your industry vertical, or the vertical(s) of your clients. Sales execs or reps can learn industry on the job; their manager should be teaching it to them.
• Every sales manager?s professional history should exhibit the ability to set firm goals and take the proper initiatives to achieve those targets. This is directly connected to their having a strong sense of what is needed to make a sales team more competitive than they were.

Your Top Pick Should Already Understand Management

• Whether the sales manager you hire has already managed a team isn?t necessarily key (though of course it might be, depending on the situation). What is always crucial, however, is a learned understanding of basic management principles. If you?re looking for someone to manage in a corporate setting and they look at you blankly when you bring up Jack Welch, cross them off the list.
• Whether by firsthand experience or observation, your sales manager will absolutely have to know how to differentiate between the sales representatives who are going to make a difference and those who are a drain.
• Finally, the universal statement you can go by, no matter what kind of company, industry, client base, etc. you?re in: Your sales manager absolutely has to Understand the importance of gaining the trust and respect of the sales team.

Source: http://www.business2community.com/sales-management/how-to-hire-the-right-sales-manager-0314809

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