Is Your Sales Rep Your Next Sales Leader?

A common practice of many organizations is to promote top-performing sales reps into sales leadership roles. But the challenge with this approach is that the characteristics of sales managers are quite different than those of top-performing sales reps.

That’s not to say a top-performing sales rep can’t be a sales leader, but you will need to review some of the following softer skills and see if they would be a strong candidate for promotion.

Informal Leadership

One of the best ways to determine if a sales rep will be a good leader is to observe them during informal interactions with their peers. These interactions can occur during team meetings or even around the office. Look for people that are really helping others and want the team to succeed. An example of this is a sales rep taking

An example of this is a sales rep taking the initiative to help another sales rep with a difficult client by accompanying them to their meeting. “A superior sales leader gets great pleasure from seeing their reps succeed as a consequence of the coaching they’ve invested with them,” says Will Brooks, EVP for sales training firm The Brooks Group. If these key behaviors are displayed at the rep level, there’s a good chance they would continue in a leadership role.

Emotional Maturity

Many top-performing sales reps have great relationships with their clients but often lack the ability to get along with their sales managers and tend to offend their colleagues. Oftentimes, these sales reps will use their own sales process and do anything to make the sale, even if it’s not a positive thing for other clients in the organization.

These types of sales reps lack the diplomacy and tact to lead an organization. Instead, look for someone with a high level of emotional maturity. A sales rep who doesn’t need the glory of personal success and does things in the best interest of the company is an indicator of leadership potential.

Strong Discipline in Organization Skills

Another indicator of leadership potential is strong discipline and organizational skills. A sales leader is responsible for the sales process, planning, and structure for the whole organization. A sales rep needs to display these organizational skills when managing themselves before moving into a sales leadership role.

A lot of sales reps complain about process and CRM, but pay attention to reps who are able to manage themselves without having to be instructed by a sales leader.

Not all sales reps have the potential to be good sales leaders, and not all sales leaders were top-performing sales reps. Don’t fall into the trap of assuming a top sales rep would be a great leader of other sales reps.  Look for these softer skills, and to help you be sure, rely on a good sales assessment test to provide the insight you need to determine the fit for promotion.

Please share any other factors you consider in promoting from within your sales team!