Sales leaders face a conundrum when selecting sales managers from the rep ranks. Most firms have examples of successful salespeople who are disasters as managers because they persist in the same behaviors as a manager that helped them excel as an individual contributor. With this in mind, some industry thought leaders believe sales management candidates should be pulled from another talent pool entirely.
On the other hand, a sales manager can benefit from experience as a rep in that particular sales organization to boost credibility among their direct reports. And credibility is required to conduct candid performance reviews, make compensation decisions, implement necessary account reallocations, and other vital sales management responsibilities. Considering these two conflicting facts, what’s a sales leader to do?
To identify salespeople who can become effective sales managers, leaders need to clearly define the specific behaviors required of managers, and then test for them effectively. And this actually isn’t so hard if you use the right framework and assessment techniques, and then use that knowledge and tools to communicate shared expectations with those aspiring to be sales managers.
