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No matter the size of sales team you might be managing, the right techniques and tools make all the difference in being a good sales manager. From how to onboard new sales reps to conducting peer-to-peer call reviews, these practices help create a productive and motivated sales team. As a bonus, we’ll explore some of the top sales tools on the market, each designed to enhance different aspects of the sales process—from pipeline management to demand forecasting. Let’s get into it!
At its core, sales management involves setting goals, devising strategies, and supporting sales teams in their mission to close deals and build relationships with customers. Sales managers act as the pivotal link between other departments or functions such as sales operations, sales enablement, marketing, customer success, and of course the sales team itself.
The career path of a sales manager isn’t always the same for every industry. But common checkpoints do exist! Successful sales managers are the ones who strategically guide and optimize a company’s sales efforts by leveraging their team. This starts from recruiting and hiring to training high-performing team members to then coaching and supporting them throughout each deal. By setting performance standards and leading by example, the team looks to the sales manager for performance improvement, receiving ongoing advice, and accountability for hitting quotas.
Working as a sales manager involves a lot of responsibilities. Listed below are the key responsibilities most sales managers are expected of:
Sales managers are responsible for setting, or interpreting from the executive-suite, clear and achievable sales targets for their team. These targets should be aligned with the company's overall goals and objectives. Sales managers are typically expected to be the expert on how quota is set and what counts towards it. You’ll want to make sure you become the subject matter expert on it! Not to mention, knowing what the best way to communicate to your team about these goals. Implement incentives, competition, or transparency so your team can do their best work.
The team is going to need support in their day-to-day activities. Sales manager are there to step in and provide personalized sales coaching and support. Pulling on their own experience as a sales rep, they can share best practices, help troubleshoot challenges, and offer guidance. And if they don’t know the answer, sales managers should know where to go to find them!
Sales managers should be approachable and be available to coach their reps during their selling hours. It’s also important as a sales manager to be proactive with coaching and book time with their reps regularly to ensure they keep growing and improving. But hey, don’t micromanage.
Sales managers track and evaluate the performance of individual sales representatives as well as the overall sales team. They typically need to compile, synthesize, and report on this performance to a higher level of management of the executive suite. There are several different ways to do this, but having open conversations with the team is a must. Sales managers are typically the first person to notice a lack of performance and know how to support underperforming sales reps or make the decision to off-board them. Teamwork makes the dream work!
Becoming a successful sales manager means going beyond being a great salesperson. Sales managers devise sales strategies to meet or exceed the set targets. Their to-do lists include things like looking at market trends, identifying opportunities, and determining the most effective approaches to reach potential customers. This means a lot of research, networking with other leaders, and [PODS OPINION HERE]
Imagine starting a new job and feeling right at home from the get-go. Having a great sales onboarding process set up for new hires isn’t just about teaching them the ropes; it’s about including them in the culture, arming them with the knowledge they need, and making sure they feel supported from day one. In fact, a great sales onboarding process can improve win rates by 14%!
Effective onboarding includes comprehensive training sessions, shadowing top performers, and interactive workshops to start. When new salespeople are confident and well-prepared, they're ready to hit the ground running and start closing deals faster.
There's no better way to learn than from each other in real-world scenarios. Peer-to-peer call reviews—whether recorded or live—are a game-changer.
These sessions allow sales reps to share best practices, offer constructive feedback, and learn from real-life scenarios. It's a collaborative environment where everyone can improve their skills by analyzing different approaches and strategies. Plus, it fosters a sense of camaraderie and continuous improvement within the team.
Practice makes perfect, especially when it comes to sales scripts. Regular script practice and review sessions help sales reps polish their pitches, handle objections smoothly, and deliver consistent, compelling messages. Plus, regular practice helps sales reps become more comfortable and confident with the script, leading to more effective and natural conversations.
Doing role-playing exercises can make practicing less awkward and mirror real-life scenarios that other team members may have encountered. It opens up the floor for others to share their experiences, tips, and get closer to closing more deals!
Providing great sales content—like books, videos, and recommendations of sales influencers to follow—keeps the team inspired and informed. We highly recommend following the following sales experts (and Pod ambassadors) on LinkedIn:
Curate a library of materials that cover various aspects of sales, from negotiation techniques to the latest industry trends. Encouraging continuous learning helps your team stay ahead of the curve and brings fresh, innovative ideas into your sales strategy.
Having a regular cadence for reviewing pipelines and offering tactical support is crucial for maintaining momentum. These sessions usually involve detailed analysis of each salesperson's pipeline, identifying opportunities, and talking about challenges. Providing tactical support means giving actionable advice and resources to help reps close deals faster. It’s on you to be proactive and ensure everyone is on track to meet their goals.
Accountability is key to a high-performing sales team. As a sales manager, you need to be setting clear, achievable quotas and holding reps accountable. Plus, the leadership team will want to know how the sales team is doing in terms of hitting quotas and performance. You can do this by having regular check-ins and performance reviews to ensure everyone has what they need to succeed. It's not about pressure; it's about support and recognition. Don’t forget to celebrate the wins!
Artificial Intelligence can play a pivotal role in sales. It just depends on what you need and which tools are changing the sales game. Here’s our top picks:
Pod is the first AI pipeline coach for B2B sellers. ****Pod gives Account Executives clear direction on what deals to focus on and the information they need to close those opportunities using broad AI capabilities. By logging in to Pod every morning, sellers will find their deals prioritized, telling them exactly what to focus on and what is at risk. Throughout their workday, Pod keeps reps organized around each and every customer meeting.
After working with 100s of account executives at companies like Vention and Thermo Fischer, Pod knows that simply updating your CRM faster is not what helps close more deals and exceed quota.
Pricing: start for free today!
Lavender is an AI sales email coach that fixes your emails instantly. It helps users write and personalize emails quickly, optimize for replies, and integrate recipient research. Lavender also provides detailed analytics and insights to improve email performance, integrating with platforms like Gmail, Outlook, and HubSpot.
Pricing: Lavender has a free forever basic plan to start
Clay is designed to automate personal outreach for sales and marketing teams. It integrates with over 75 data sources and uses AI for its research. The AI web scraper helps automate manual SDR research. Talk about creating personalized messaging at scale! Clay is useful for building lead lists, enriching CRM data, automating outbound campaigns, and improving data quality and coverage. Now your team can go from campaign idea to execution instantly.
Pricing: Free basic plan
Sales forecasting tools are essential for businesses to predict future sales, set targets, plan inventory, allocate resources, and make informed strategic decisions. Here’s a variety of tools to take a look at:
Clari is your ultimate revenue operations platform, built to streamline and supercharge your sales processes. With Clari, you get powerful tools and analytics that boost forecasting accuracy, drive sales productivity, and enhance overall revenue performance. It offers full visibility into your funnel, giving you a clear view of every stage of the sales cycle. By optimizing these critical aspects, Clari helps you make smarter decisions, close deals faster, and hit your revenue targets with confidence.
Pricing: contact them for a quote
BoostUp can help teams improve their forecasting, pipeline management, and overall revenue performance by leveraging AI and machine learning to provide insights, automate processes, and enhance collaboration across teams. By analyzing historical data, current pipeline, and sales activities, BoostUp uses AI to provide more accurate sales forecasts. No more guessing what deals to dig into or where to spend your time and energy on. Sales teams can now see the full picture and keep deals on track.
Pricing: Book a demo
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Avercast is a software solution specializing in demand planning and forecasting. It helps businesses optimize their supply chain management by providing accurate predictions of future demand, which can significantly reduce costs and improve efficiency. It cuts costs and boosts efficiency by showing your data in clear, customizable graphs and charts that make planning a breeze. Plus, Avercast brings teams together by enhancing collaboration between sales, marketing, and supply chain departments. The result? Better communication, improved alignment, and a smoother operation overall. Say goodbye to guesswork and hello to a more streamlined, cost-effective supply chain with Avercast.
Pricing: Book a demo
You’re probably talking to a lot of folks on a daily basis. CRM tools help keep conversations streamlined and organized so nobody gets left in the dust. Check out these options:
Salesforce is a leading CRM platform widely used by businesses of all sizes to manage their sales, customer service, marketing, and more. Salesforce centralizes all customer data, providing a single source of truth for the organization. There are automation capabilities, including workflow rules, process builders, and AI-driven automation. It also provides powerful reporting and analytics so you can make data-driven decisions.
✨ Bonus: Pod integrates with Salesforce!
Pricing: Book a demo
HubSpot is an all-in-one marketing, sales, customer service, and CRM platform designed to help businesses grow. The Sales Hub helps sales teams manage their pipelines, track deals, and close more sales. It allows for email tracking, scheduling meetings, sales automations, and a customizable sales pipeline. The seamless integration between marketing, sales, and service tools ensures a cohesive customer experience and improved collaboration across teams.
Pricing: Starting at $800/month
Pipedrive is the go-to CRM for sales teams that want to keep their pipelines flowing smoothly and their processes sharp. Tailored for small to medium-sized businesses, Pipedrive offers a visual, intuitive approach to sales tracking that makes managing deals a breeze. Its focus on activities and follow-ups ensures that nothing falls through the cracks, keeping your team on top of every opportunity. With Pipedrive, your sales process becomes streamlined and efficient, making it easier to close deals and hit those targets.
Pricing: starting at $14 per sear per month
Conversation intelligence tools use AI and machine learning to analyze conversations and offer insights and even coaching support. Here’s an overview of some top options:
Gong.io is a revenue intelligence platform designed to help sales teams improve their performance by analyzing customer interactions. The platform captures and transcribes sales calls, emails, and meetings, providing detailed insights into sales conversations. Gong uses AI to deliver actionable insights, enabling sales teams to make data-driven decisions, optimize their sales strategies, and increase revenue.
Pricing: Book a demo
Jiminny is a conversational intelligence platform that records, transcribes, and analyzes sales calls and meetings. It seamlessly integrates with your CRM, ensuring all interaction data is at your fingertips and ready to use. With Jiminny, sales managers can give immediate feedback and pinpoint areas for improvement, helping the team continuously level up their game. It’s all about making sure your sales data is not just accessible, but actionable, so you can hit those targets and keep climbing higher.
Pricing: Book a demo
Chorus by ZoomInfo is like having a smart assistant for your sales team, capturing and analyzing customer interactions to boost your sales game. It records and transcribes sales calls and meetings, giving you the lowdown on customer sentiment, deal progress, and how your reps are performing. With seamless integration into your CRM and other sales tools, it uses AI-driven conversation analytics to spotlight key moments and trends. This means you can focus on what matters most—closing deals and building strong customer relationships.
Pricing: Book a demo
Managing outreach efforts doesn’t have to be hard! Prospecting platforms streamline the process of finding new leads, enriching lead data, and boosting sales efficiency and effectiveness. Here are a few options to take a look at:
Apollo is an all-in-one sales intelligence and engagement platform makes finding and connecting with leads seamless. Picture advanced search capabilities that zero in on top-notch prospects, combined with email and phone sequencing to automate your outreach. Apollo’s engagement tracking lets you see how leads are responding, while workflow automation takes care of repetitive tasks.
Pricing: Free basic plan
Lusha integrates seamlessly with LinkedIn and other professional networks, putting verified email addresses and phone numbers right at your fingertips. Key features include a giant database of business contacts, real-time data enrichment to keep your info fresh, and easy-peasy CRM integration. With Lusha, finding the right people and making meaningful connections is painless.
Pricing: Free basic plan
ZoomInfo is a market intelligence platform designed to help businesses identify and connect with potential customers. It provides detailed information on companies and contacts, enabling sales and marketing teams to target their efforts more effectively. ZoomInfo also offers intent data to identify prospects who are actively searching for solutions and enrichment services to enhance the accuracy of your existing data.
Pricing: Book a demo
Sales management is the backbone of any successful sales organization. If you're on track to becoming a sales manager, I hope these insights were helpful in guiding you. By implementing effective strategies like great sales onboarding, peer-to-peer call reviews, script practice, and leveraging high-quality sales content, businesses can significantly boost their sales performance.
The key to mastering sales management lies in combining the right strategies with the right tools. This not only optimizes your sales pipeline but also ensures your team is equipped with the best resources to succeed.
As you explore these examples and tools, you'll find yourself better prepared to drive sales efficiency, improve forecasting accuracy, and ultimately achieve your revenue goals. If you're feeling stuck or need additional support in this awesome journey, check out Pod!
