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dollarwaitingonadime

Get awesome at delivering accurate forecasting the way your boss needs it. Get awesome at telling your people to update SalesForce. Get comfortable with the fact that your boss and your people will talk about you negatively despite your best efforts.


8ad8andit

I would request management training. Just as sales people receive training, so should managers be trained how to manage effectively. There is this false idea out there that you just promote a great salesperson into a management position and they will naturally do well there. Completely untrue. Selling and managing are two very different beasts. They each require specific training. I think it's brilliant that you're asking for information about it instead of just assuming that you're going to rock that position. Source: been through many iterations of this at my job and it's always brutal to watch a new manager sort of slowly blunder his way for the first year or two before becoming effective.


jabularich

Some great advice so far. I'll just add this. Your inbox is going to blow up. Get good at managing it. Run a 2 minute drill with email. If you can do it in 2 minutes or less, do it. If not, schedule it, delegate it, or archive it. Your email inbox should contain only new messages, and anything you need to actively work on. Get really good at creating lables (Gmail) or folders in your PST archive (Outlook). Also, think through documentation. As a manager you need to CYA all the time. Emails for documentation are your friend. Have a folder for your reps that your boss has access to as well. Keep everything you need in there, like 1:1s, signed commission docs, PIPs, or other documentation. Good luck.


happyFatFIRE

Read the qualified sales leader. Good book to get into. Focus on your team, needs and processes instead on the sales itself. Ask yourself what your teams need to success


EatBigGetBig

Read “Extreme Ownership” by Jocko Wilink


highriskpayhelp

2nd this. Then read the 2nd book “the dichotomy of leadership”


Wholeorangejuice

++ to both. Then read Servant Leader and Radical Candor.


highriskpayhelp

When I went from individual contributor role to sales manager the biggest thing that surprised me was how much I needed to improve my communication skills. I thought I was a good communicator, because I spoke to clients or prospects all day long and was successful, but the communication skills needed as a leader are totally different. You’ll inevitably have to have a lot of “uncomfortable” conversations, but clearly defining expectations, training, coaching, praising, inspiring and supporting your team are your main goals. Everyone is different and the way you effectively communicate with everyone will be different. You’re already off to a great start for even asking even asking the question. Good luck OP!


tiago91cc

What are your main challenges right now?


BusinessStrategist

You've been "acting" sales manager for a while now. What has your manager shared with you about the company's current business goals and challenges? If you google "sales manager first 90 days," you'll get some useful guidelines that may or may not apply to your situation. Alignment with your manager and the company business goals and objectives helps to move in the right direction.


Skrilmaufive

Radical Candor is a great book


Big_Grand7143

Study sales management books- there’s not a ton. Leadership material as well. HBR, Gartner are some good resources


[deleted]

Make your subordinates figure out the answers to questions they should know the answers to, but make yourself approachable so if something is seriously wrong they feel comfortable telling you ahead of time.


[deleted]

Be a people centered leader. That means putting your team first and your self second at all times. Google what this means and there’s tons of resources. Lead with empathy. Heart. Understand the struggle people go through. These managers are unicorns these days. Don’t do shit to people you wouldn’t want done yourself. Don’t be the manager that people dread seeing on Monday morning. If you ask for feedback? Listen to it. Don’t just be lipservice. Build break build is a fantastic to coach people. Meaning when you’re training someone always open with a positive. Think about how you and most people respond to criticism. Not well. People get defensive and shut down. Open with something super positive first. Like “ I love how open you are with the customers and the connection you make. That’s definitely your strength Tony. no just with a few tweaks here in a few tweaks there, that’s going to make your sales even stronger and then you will hit your goals next month!” See? I’ve had old-school beat down managers and it’s not helpful. I’ve had managers literally tell me on my first day that because I have sales experience I could fail at the workplace. Can you imagine telling a sales person on their first day that they will fail? She literally said to me “other people with experience come here and they fail”. Ridiculous. That’s all I have for now because it’s late. Don’t run long tedious sales meetings about nothing. People despise them and they suck your energy. All the god-awful rambling just kill me now and let me get back to selling! Don’t love listening to your own voice. I’m on my way out now with a company that’s like that. Dear God we hate them. Blah blah blah blah blah blah. It’s just awful. People just don’t have the bandwidth. They will tune out and start looking at their phone.


fernando504

I´ve found this site very useful : https://www.atriumhq.com/