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What Sales Managers Actually Do (Plain English)

Core mandate: Deliver predictable revenue by hiring great sellers, enabling them to win, and removing friction in the go-to-market engine.

Typical responsibilities

• Planning & territory design: Segment markets, set quotas, coverage models (named/vertical/geo), rules of engagement.
• Pipeline creation: Partner with marketing on campaigns, events, and lead SLAs; build prospecting cadences and outbound programs.
• Deal leadership: Meddle wisely, strategize account plans, multi-thread stakeholders, handle pricing/terms, and coach through objections.
• Forecasting & reporting: Weekly call by stage, probability, risk; reconcile with CRM hygiene; communicate upside/downside with options.
• Hiring & ramp: Source candidates, structured interviews, onboarding plan, 30-60-90 ramp metrics, certification before full quota.
• Coaching & enablement: 1:1s, ride-alongs, call reviews, skill clinics (discovery, negotiation), playbooks, and battle cards.
• Compensation & incentives: Set uncapped plans aligned to margin and retention; SPIFFs for focus behavior.
• Cross-functional alignment: Work with product, finance, legal, success, and ops; close the loop on feedback and post-mortems.
• Governance & ethics: Deal desk, discount approval, competitive intel standards, regulatory adherence.
• Customer advocacy: Escalate product gaps, service issues, and renewals risks; sponsor strategic accounts.

Where they work

• B2B/B2C software & SaaS; financial/professional services; healthcare/med-device; industrial/manufacturing; logistics; media/ads; consumer products; telecom; and more.

A Realistic Day-in-the-Life

• 8:30 Pipeline review: new opps, stage slippage, stuck deals; update risk notes.
• 9:30 Team stand-up: two wins debriefed, one competitive loss post-mortem, daily focus targets.
• 10:00 Deal strategy: build a multi-thread plan for a Q4 enterprise renewal + expansion; assign exec sponsor.
• 11:30 Interview: final round for an AE; run a role-play and coach in the room.
• 1:00 Forecast call: scrub week-over-week changes; confirm commit numbers and coverage ratio.
• 2:00 Enablement: clinic on discovery questions and mutual action plans (MAPs).
• 3:30 Cross-functional: align with marketing on an ABM push; with legal on redlines template; with finance on pricing guardrails.
• 4:30 1:1s: performance coaching, activity quality, pipeline hygiene; calibrate comp and career goals.
• 5:30 Notes & follow-ups: send next steps to execs on two at-risk deals; update MEDDICC fields on top 10 opps.

Skills & Traits That Predict Success

• Coaching mindset: You develop people through feedback, repetition, and clarity; you win through the team.
• Process discipline: Stages/criteria (e.g., MEDDICC/BANT/SPICED), MAPs, and CRM hygiene—no happy-ears forecasts.
• Commercial acumen: Pricing, margins, discounting logic, terms, and the economics of retention/expansion.
• Analytical fluency: Pipeline math (coverage, conversion, sales cycle), cohort analysis, win-rate diagnostics, territory capacity.
• Communication: Clear, concise emails; crisp exec summaries; confident customer presence.
• Negotiation & influence: Trades over concessions, value over price, alignment on outcomes.
• Resilience & EQ: You handle pressure, celebrate wins well, and recover fast from losses.
• Integrity: Long-term trust beats short-term sandbagging or mis-selling.

Minimum Requirements & Typical Background

Education

• Bachelor’s in Business, Communications, Marketing, or related fields common; not required if performance history is strong.

Experience

• 2–5+ years as a top-quartile AE/AM/BDR; first-line managers often come from team lead roles or interim manager assignments.
• For enterprise/technical sales, experience with complex buying centers and longer cycles is valued.

Certifications & training (useful, not mandatory)

• Challenger, MEDDICC, Sandler, SPIN, Command of the Message.
• Negotiation courses; Funnel/Forecasting programs; Finance for non-finance.

Tools & platforms

• CRM: Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics, custom fields for methodology.
• Enablement: Highspot, Showpad, Gong/Chorus (call recording), Seismic.
• Prospecting: Outreach, SalesLoft, Apollo, ZoomInfo, LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
• Ops/Analytics: Clari/Anaplan/BoostUp for forecast; Tableau/Power BI; Google Sheets/Excel power-user.
• CPQ/Deal Desk: Salesforce CPQ, Conga, PandaDoc; e-sign:

Earnings Potential (US: realistic bands)

Compensation is typically base + variable; variable often 30–60% of OTE (on-target earnings), with accelerators above quota.

• Sales Team Lead / Senior AE (stepping into mgmt): OTE $110K–$170K (base $60K–$100K).
• Sales Manager (SMB/MM): OTE $140K–$220K (base $80K–$130K).
• Enterprise Sales Manager / Regional Manager: OTE $180K–$300K+ (base $110K–$170K).
• Director of Sales: OTE $220K–$400K+; equity more likely.
• VP Sales / CRO (company size dependent): OTE $300K–$800K+, with meaningful equity in growth companies.

Adders: SPIFFs, President’s Club, car/travel stipends, equity/RSUs (more common in tech), accelerators (e.g., 2x rate after 100% quota).

Growth Stages & Promotional Paths

Early (0–2 yrs):

• BDR/SDR → AE: Learn prospecting, qualification, discovery; master one ICP and one value story.

Developing (2–5 yrs):

• Senior AE / Team Lead: Consistent quota attainment; mentor peers; run small trainings; pilot vertical playbooks.

First-line Manager (4–8 yrs):

• Sales Manager: Own 5–12 reps; forecasting cadence; hire/ramp; run enablement; align with marketing and success.

Senior Leadership (7–12 yrs):

• Director / RVP: Multi-team or region; territory design; comp plans; cross-function programs (pricing, renewals, expansion).

Executive (10+ yrs):

• VP of Sales / CRO: GTM strategy, org design, enterprise forecasting, channel strategy, board reporting; recruit next-level leaders.

Lateral options: Sales Enablement, RevOps, Product Marketing, Customer Success, Partnerships/Alliances, General Management.

Employment Outlook

• Tech-enabled selling (SaaS, fintech, medtech) continues to demand data-literate managers who run modern cadences and accurate forecasts.
• Professional/financial services value relationship-driven managers with cross-sell/upsell discipline.
• Industrial/manufacturing/logistics push for managers who can blend field coverage with inside/digital motions.
• AI tooling is multiplying activity, but coaching, judgment, and account strategy remain human advantages.

How to Break In (and Move Up)

If you’re a top AE aiming for management:

1. Teach while you sell. Run a weekly mini-clinic (discovery, objection handling, proposal storytelling).
2. Shadow the manager’s work. Forecast calls, capacity planning, interview loops; offer to back-fill during PTO.
3. Document a repeatable play. E.g., a vertical sequence and talk track with assets and metrics; pilot with two reps.
4. Mentor a new hire. Create a ramp plan with call targets, certs, and first-30-day opp goals.
5. Show pipeline math. Demonstrate coverage planning (e.g., 3–4x), stage conversion diagnostics, and cycle-time reduction.

To succeed in your first 90 days as a manager:

• Days 1–30: Audit pipeline hygiene, meet every rep 1:1, set expectations and cadence; define a narrow focus (e.g., stage-2→3 conversion).
• Days 31–60: Hire for gaps; launch two skill clinics; establish deal review templates (MEDDICC/MAP).
• Days 61–90: Publish a forecast dashboard; lock comp plans and SPIFFs; run a team retro; present a quarterly GTM plan.

The KPIs You’ll Live By (and Interview On)

• Quota attainment: % to goal by rep/team; attainment distribution (avoid “hero + zeros”).
• Pipeline coverage: 3–4x next-quarter quota; new pipeline created per rep per month.
• Conversion rates: Stage-by-stage win rate; source mix (inbound/outbound/partner).
• Sales cycle & deal size: Median cycle by segment; ASP trends.
• Forecast accuracy: Commit vs. actual; week-over-week slippage.
• Retention/expansion (B2B): NRR/GRR, expansion rate, churn reasons tied to pre-sale promises.
• Activity quality: Discovery depth, exec contact, multi-threading, MAP adoption (quality over raw dials).
• Hiring & ramp: Time-to-productivity; % of reps at full quota by month 4–6; regrettable attrition.
• Margin & discounting: Average discount by segment; deal desk approval cycle time.

Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)

• Happy-ears forecasting: Enforce exit criteria per stage and require MAPs with mutual dates.
• Activity theater: Focus on meeting quality and next steps, not just count.
• Coaching whiplash: Pick two themes per month; reinforce with call reviews and role-plays.
• Hiring for charisma over competence: Use structured scorecards, job trials/role-plays, reference checks focused on behaviors.
• Discount addiction: Sell value; anchor on outcomes; require give-gets (longer term, references, multi-product).
• Neglecting post-sale: Coordinate with success; no “throw over the wall” handoffs; pipeline for expansion starts at implementation.
• Spreadsheet forecasts only: Use CRM rigor + judgment; track risk notes and mitigation options.

Interview Tips (Be Specific, Metric-Driven)

Come with 3 stories, pipeline fix, deal rescue, and talent win.

• Pipeline fix: “Raised stage-2→3 conversion from 28% to 42% by instituting discovery scorecards and MAPs; created 6x Q+1 coverage.”
• Deal rescue: “Won a $1.4M renewal at risk by multi-threading to operations and finance, reframing value to cost-to-serve; discount –40% vs. ask.”
• Talent win: “Cut ramp from 120→75 days with a certification path and curated call library; 80% of new AEs hit first-quarter quota.”
• Forecast accuracy: “Moved commit accuracy from ±22% to ±7% by enforcing stage criteria and weekly slippage reviews.”
• Pricing discipline: “Reduced average discount by 6 pts via revised guardrails + give-get playbook.”

Resume Bullet Examples (Swipe These)

• Grew ARR 37% YoY while improving win rate +9 pts and shortening cycle –18% through MEDDICC, MAPs, and a revamped discovery program.
• Improved forecast accuracy to ±6% for four consecutive quarters; pipeline coverage maintained at 4x.
• Cut new-hire ramp 38% and lifted first-quarter attainment to 72% via onboarding redesign and call-review rituals.
• Lowered average discount 5.4 pts and raised ASP +12% with value-based pricing and a deal-desk give-get framework.
• Opened a new vertical (healthcare) to $9.8M ARR in 12 months; built playbook, references, and partner motion.

Education & Development Blueprint

Year 1–2 (aspiring):

• Master one methodology; build a repeatable outbound motion; learn Excel/Sheets and basic BI for pipeline.
• Lead a micro-training monthly; mentor a BDR.

Year 3–5:

• Team lead; own hiring loop; run enablement sessions; partner with RevOps; learn finance (margins, CAC/LTV, payback).

Year 5–8:

• First-line manager; build territory and comp plans; drive cross-functional projects (pricing, packaging, renewals).

Year 8+:

• Director/RVP; multi-segment strategy; partner models; forecast at scale; succession planning; consider executive coaching.

Pros, Cons, and “Real Talk”

Pros

• Clear scoreboard; direct impact on growth and comp upside.
• Portable skills across industries.
• People development + strategy + execution in one role.
• Fast path to Director/VP/CRO for consistent performers.

Cons

• Pressure and visibility; quarter-ends can be intense.
• Hiring and attrition cycles are constant.
• Forecast scrutiny from execs/board; little tolerance for surprises.
• Travel and evening/weekend pushes for critical deals.

Who thrives here?

• Competitive, ethical coaches who love winning through others, clean process, and crisp communication.

Is This Career a Good Fit for You?

Success depends on whether your motivational wiring leans toward influence, coaching, structured competition, and measurable goals. Prefer teaching and orchestrating to being the hero closer? You’ll likely love it.

Is this career a good fit for you?
Take the MAPP Career Assessment to find out: www.assessment.com

Quick FAQ

Do I need to be the top seller first?
Helpful but not required. Great managers are great coaches, they create many top sellers, not just one.

What methodology is best?
Whichever you implement consistently. Pick one and operationalize it in CRM, training, and reviews.

How is AI changing sales management?
It boosts research, drafting, and call analysis, but managers who coach judgment, strategy, and integrity will remain irreplaceable.

Manager vs. IC, how do I choose?
If you love teaching, systems, and forecasting, choose management. If you love the thrill of the hunt, stay IC or pick a player-coach role.

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