So, you think you want to be a sales manager? If you’re an individual top-performing contributor in your sales organization and you’re thinking of applying for a sales manager role, let me give you a bit of a reality check first. Here are some chilling statistics that might make you think twice about taking on a front-line manager role:
Sales managers cannot control 83% of the metrics they’re held accountable to
A full two-thirds of all salespeople miss quota
Over half of all salespeople close at less than 40%
40% of salespeople can’t understand customer pain
Only 46% of reps feel their pipeline is accurate
Almost half of all sales teams don’t have a playbook
Only 52% of salespeople can access key players
Source - Read More at: blog.hubspot.com
Many people think that if they are excelling in sales, they will naturally be good sales managers.
The fact is, there are very different traits and skills involved in both roles. Being a superstar sales professional does not necessarily that someone will excel in sales management, and vice versa.
I enjoyed this article because it clearly defines the 7 most important tasks that a sales manager does. Valuable information before accepting a management role yourself if you are currently in sales, and also important criteria to consider if you are in upper management and considering promoting one of your rock star sales reps into a management role.
We see time and again how companies promote their top sales people into management roles, only to end up with a mediocre …or worse…sales manager, and also realize they are losing ground because they have taken their top seller off the field.
For a good source of proven sales managers, feel free to reach out to ISC. We have been providing exceptional sales managers to our Clients since 1999.
