How Assessments Help with Hiring Great Sales Managers
Edited by Christina Krenek
When you’re looking to fill a sales management position, it’s easy to just take the top performing sales person and bump them up to a leadership position. They have an outstanding sales record, they have that vibrant, go-getter attitude, and they deliver results; so obviously they’ll succeed as a sales manager right? Wrong, when it comes to hiring great sales managers, that is a common misconception.
Nearly 60 percent of frontline managers underperform during their first two years and more than 50 percent would rather not manage people at all.
It is important to remember that the characteristics of a great sales person differ from those of a great leader. As Deiric McCann put it: the top sales people tend to be somewhat unmanageable. Top performing sales people are typically assertive, hardheaded, independent, and they do whatever it takes to make the sale!
Watch Deiric McCann discuss how assessments help when selecting and developing sales managers.
http://videos.sorensonmedia.com/f5ad43a3V15e0i43f4nba0en4aad49f4f4c3/POST%3A++Deiric+McCann%3A+How+Assessments+Help+Select+and+Develop+Sales+Managers/6d57d5ae-0cb3-11e1-a8ae-12313804de72
Now imagine having a manager with those identical characteristics: that could be nightmare for both the new manager and the sales employees. Demands are different for sales managers. Assuming a new role as manager, the once independent and self-motivated top sales performer is suddenly forced into a position to lead and motivate others. A totally new set of skills and characteristics are needed to manage effectively, and one can’t just develop them overnight.
To be great leader, they must:
- Have interest and capability to lead
- Know their purpose as a sales manager
- Understand the people and sales reps they lead
- Understand themselves and how their leadership role impacts their sales reps
And poor, ineffective management is costly and hurts business. If the top sales performer just doesn’t have what it takes to be an effective manager or isn’t capable of developing the crucial leadership skills, it will hurt both them and the organization. A previous, top sales person who is failing as a manager is likely to leave the company and become a top sales person another organization; and we know how costly employee turnover is.
So when selecting sales managers, it is essential to know if the sales person will be (or develop into) an effective leader.
From a Profiles Research report, here are six keys to unlocking potential managers:
- Identify employees with the capability and interest to be good managers
- Help your managers clarify their teams’ goals and roles
- Help your managers understand the people they manage
- Help your managers understand themselves and how they impact their people
- Don’t assume your managers know how or when to coach
- Minimize administrative work to give managers more time to develop people
After evaluation and assessment, if a top sales person has the right capabilities, characteristics, and is willing to take the management position, great! If not, that’s okay too. You certainly don’t want to lose a top performing sales person just because they won't fit in a management position.
Want to know which of your sales people have the interests and behaviors to become a sales manager? If so, we encourage you to test drive our ProfileXT assessment - 100% risk free!
Want to help your sales managers develop into outstanding leaders? If so, we encourage you to test drive our Checkpoint 360 assessment - 100% risk free!
