Having a top sales leader in place at your organization can positively impact both the sales team they lead and your bottom line. According to recent research, 69% of salespeople who exceeded their annual quota rated their sales manager as being excellent or above average. This strong correlation between great sales leaders and top performing sales reps makes it imperative for you to hire the right sales leader for your organization. There are three things you should consider before hiring your next sales leader to make sure they’re able to effectively lead a team and be successful in their role.
Ability to Recruit and Develop a Team
Not only do top sales leaders know how to sell, but they also know how to surround themselves with a team of A-players. Research shows that 72% of high performing sales managers rated the sales team they manage as excellent or above average, compared to 54% for under-performing sales managers. On the other hand, 46% of under-performing sales managers rated their team as average or below average, while only 28% of high performing sales managers thought so.
Hiring a sales leader who has the ability to recruit and train their team is essential. Find out what past experience the candidate has leading a sales team and find out what type of leadership style they used to be effective.
Uses Metrics for Forecasting
If your sales reps aren’t being measured on their performance on a daily, monthly and yearly basis, then you’re missing out on valuable coaching opportunities and more importantly, losing out on revenue. 75% of high-performing sales managers agreed that their salespeople are consistently measured and held accountable against their quota, compared to 58% of underperforming sales managers.
When interviewing sales leaders, make sure to ask for examples of how they use metrics on a daily basis to give feedback to their team. You can’t just rely on a sales leader’s intuition or relationships with sales reps to find out whether the reps are effective or not.
Strong Motivation
Top performing sales reps showed a noticeable difference in their personality traits compared to unsuccessful sales leaders. Some of the traits high-performing sales leaders consistently demonstrated was self-discipline, success-driven and priority focused.
Some of the questions you should ask sales leadership candidates to determine their motivation are:
- When do you tend to dig into your toughest business problems – in the morning, afternoon, or evening?
- What people or events have been most important in your self-development?
- Under what conditions do you work best? When do you do your worst work?
- What are your career goals in the next five years? Why did you decide to make them?
- Normally, most people have periods of letdowns as well as spurts of motivation in a given period. Describe your energy cycle in a week, for instance.
There’s no denying the importance of having a strong sales leader to lead your sales team. Looking for these 3 things when hiring a new sales leader will help you hire a top-performing sales leader who will be successful in the role.
