Every sales team has a culture. Good ones are rare, and they take much work to establish and maintain. And we know how valuable a sales team can be to a company. We also know that having a good sales team can do wonders for the performance and culture of a business.

Your organization's sales leader was likely hired to reach ambitious sales goals, motivate a hungry sales team and unlock new markets. Unfortunately, a great salesperson can sell themselves to a CEO as a great sales leader even when they really aren’t cut out for that job (ie. Michael Scott).

Imagine that one of your best sales reps tells you she’s leaving the company

Your product’s taking off. You’ve got traction in your market, and you’re looking to go even further.

So you want to become a sales manager? First you’ll need to make sure you’ve got the right skills, experience, drive and track record at the helm in both selling and at managing others—in order to back yourself up.

If you’re not restricting your potential employee pool to one location, you’re able to hire the best of the best no matter where they live.

How do you find a great sales leader? In most organizations, it goes something like this: A rep hustles, grinds, and outperforms. Leadership takes notice, and thinks, “how can we spread their magic to the rest of the team?” So they make them a sales manager.

I often talk about sales hiring with B2B startup founders who are beginning to see success. They've developed their product to a point where the few customers they have keep using it regularly. Their retention rates are okay and they have early signs of revenue growth.