So you’ve just landed a new sales manager’s role for a SaaS company—what now?
Sales management means great responsibility, but there’s no need to feel intimidated. You’ve earned this role—now it’s time to get out there and kill it.
Good leadership comes in many forms, and you’ll quickly discover what leadership style works best for you and your team.
As the leader of a sales team, there are many things you can do to maximize output and build respect and camaraderie. This begins with getting your sales reps to believe in you as a leader who can help them accomplish the overall company mission and their personal goals.
As John Maxwell said...
People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.
In this post, we highlight some tips for sales leaders to thrive in their new roles.
Set Clear Expectations
Just as your team has expectations from you, you should have expectations of them.
It’s important that you set these expectations for each of your salespeople so that everyone is familiar with their objectives. Doing so will also help navigate focus towards the company’s collective goals. This is even more important if you're managing a remote sales team.
Expectations can include things such as:
- Performance standards and clear sales KPIs
- Personal development
- Administrative standards
Without setting expectations, resources like time and money will be wasted. Even the best sales reps won’t work at maximum efficiency without them.
Build Trust and Credibility with Your Team
As with any team environment, it’s imperative to create a culture that inspires your employees.
Each sales rep should feel comfortable and confident with their responsibilities. Help them by offering resources to fuel their success. This will ensure that every employee feels valued in the team.
Make it clear to your team that you’re on their side, that you know what you’re doing, and that you’re someone they can talk to. Having an “open-door” policy will improve transparency between you and your reps, which will increase trust and credibility.
It’s important to treat every team member with respect and honesty. Offer to help, provide guidance, and present feedback whenever possible.
Are you looking to level up your skills? Dive into the world of sales manager training in my article.
Get Your Team Motivated
There are numerous ways to motivate sales teams. The challenge for sales leaders is discovering a way to keep everyone inspired based on their unique needs.
Sales competitions and quota prizes may incentivize some people, while others may be motivated by earning vacation days.
Be creative with how you motivate your team, but make sure sales incentives aren’t the only reason your employees work hard.
Sometimes, someone needs a little recognition to motivate them to keep up the hard work. Thanking them so they understand their work didn’t go unnoticed is a simple way to do this. The little things you can do will resonate with your team.
Sales leaderboards can also be a great way to help reps understand their current performance.
At the end of the day, your sales reps will make or break the results you achieve and report on; make sure they are always bringing their best energy.
Keep the Big Picture in Mind
Recognizing that sales are only part of the overall organization is essential. Sales goals must connect to business goals, as you need to be able to report on what’s important to leadership, the CMO, the head of sales, etc.
Keeping the big picture in mind includes ensuring that your team is on the same page with business goals, not just sales goals. Often, sales leaders forget to do this, which will reflect poorly when they are asked to update upper management.
Examples of business goals include:
- Increase the number of annual contracts signed
- Expand target market
- Hit clearly defined revenue goals
Ensure you regularly meet with the team to update them when company goals change. These meetings can be held weekly, biweekly, monthly, or quarterly—whatever fits your company culture.
At Close, we try to keep the number of meetings to a minimum and make every meeting count. When it comes to communicating overall company goals, we do this during our twice-yearly remote team retreats or, since the pandemic made traveling complicated, virtual team retreats.
Thrive as a New SaaS Sales Manager with These Essential Tips
Now it’s your time to shine!
Use your first few months in your new leadership role to experiment with different tactics to see what works best for you. As we mentioned, the definition of a good leader varies. By keeping the above tips in mind, you will find your own definition.
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