Qualities of Great Sales Manager

Winning Sales Team

During my time managing several projects and working with sales teams, I realized there are certain key qualities that make a great sales manager. I’m not going to get into specific details about each quality, but I want to highlight the overall traits that help a good sales manager build a respectful team environment and achieve their sales goals.

Qualities

Leadership and Team Development:

• Advocates for the team within the organization
• Fights for team support and resources
• Pushes team members to try new things for career growth
• Participates in team members’ growth
• Promotes team members
• Replicates their strengths within team members

Emotional Intelligence and People Management:

• Has high emotional intelligence
• Manages each team member’s personality differently
• Shows empathy towards team members
• Genuinely cares about people and demonstrates it
• Regularly checks in on team members’ well-being
• Allows team members to vent without dismissing their concerns

Strategic Thinking and Problem-Solving:

• Understands the job thoroughly
• Clears roadblocks without the team noticing
• Constantly works to remove obstacles for team members
• Has a good sense of numbers
• Is open to discussing strategy

Coaching and Support:

• Coaches without micromanaging
• Is always available for support
• Brings out the best in mediocre performers
• Provides constructive criticism through coaching
• Gets involved in the sales cycle to help team members

Communication and Transparency:

• Communicates excellently
• Is easily approachable
• Communicates directly and respectfully
• Keeps team updated on important matters

Ethics and Integrity:

• Consistently does the right thing
• Never asks people to compromise ethics
• Doesn’t make promises that can’t be kept
• Removes underperforming team members when necessary

Positive Work Environment:

• Maintains unrelenting positivity
• Keeps the work environment fun
• Expresses pride in team members’ work
• Promotes team successes and tactics, not personal achievements

Buffer and Protector:

• Insulates team members from operational issues
• Protects the team from organizational hazards
• Acts as a buffer against unhelpful directives from leadership
• Defends the team against criticism from other management

Work-Life Balance Advocate:

• Encourages taking days off
• Sets reasonable work-life boundaries (e.g., logging off at 8 PM)
• Encourages team members to take time off when burnout is a risk

Flexibility and Adaptability:

• Remains flexible
• Is open to feedback from team members
• Handles complex tasks (like legal walkthroughs) for the team

Focus on Results:

• Focuses team on closing deals, not operational issues
• Doesn’t constantly pester about pipeline
• Doesn’t argue about sales quotas

Hiring and Team Building:

• Follows a good hiring process to build team trust

Personal Conduct:

• Leaves personal issues at home
• Avoids public criticism of struggling team members