I'm an AE and looking to become a sales leader one day. Would love to know what a great sales manager/leader looks like. Any stories to share?
garizzly
What does your sales manager do that makes him/her great?
20
Actually caring about the person and personal matters a lot. Data driven is great, but knowing what I’m balancing at home etc is huge.
Give credit when its due. Sometimes a little pat on the back can be motivating!
Best manager I ever had stayed out of my way, helped when I asked, and proactively asked what I wanted out of my career and helped me reverse engineer how to get there. I’ve yet to encounter someone who understood leadership as well as he did, and I can’t wait until I do find it again!
Sounds a lot like my favorite manager. I hope some day I get to work with her again.
A great manager builds a relationship with each AE built on trust. This means that the AE can trust the manager to have his/her back but also means that the manager trusts that the job will get done, that AEs will work hard and communicate.
The best managers I've had are collaborative; they encourage the AEs to work in their own style, but can provide guidance, advice and support. They'll hop on the phone to sell the terms internally and then hop on the phone for executive alignment and to move the deal along.
A great manager is one who knows their stuff, has done the job, could do the job again, but enables you to do the job yourself and be successful.
The best managers I've had are collaborative; they encourage the AEs to work in their own style, but can provide guidance, advice and support. They'll hop on the phone to sell the terms internally and then hop on the phone for executive alignment and to move the deal along.
A great manager is one who knows their stuff, has done the job, could do the job again, but enables you to do the job yourself and be successful.
Constructive criticism. Being a backstop on calls.
They don’t micromanage me and trust that I can close deals without constantly checking in
Mine goes out and sources new business for us. He’s in the trenches with the rest of us. Total respect for a leader like that.
Communication and clear direction. Supportive, yet not micromanaging.
Not micro managing me
I love my direct manager. Some things that make him great:
-clearly establishes what’s important in his eyes (and our upper mngmt’s eyes)
-understands each rep’s strengths and weaknesses
-professional but also fun
-truly cares about us as people
-stays out of our personal lives (i.e. never asks about why we take PTO)
-actively helps us grow in our role
-Is real. Knows that we’re not gonna be on his team forever
-clearly establishes what’s important in his eyes (and our upper mngmt’s eyes)
-understands each rep’s strengths and weaknesses
-professional but also fun
-truly cares about us as people
-stays out of our personal lives (i.e. never asks about why we take PTO)
-actively helps us grow in our role
-Is real. Knows that we’re not gonna be on his team forever
My manager is literally the best. He has constructive 1 on 1s, goes through my deals, hops on discovery and helps me in demos and closing. Legit tbh
Nada. Nothing has changed since they started except we have more internal meetings. It sucks.
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