The Habits of Highly Effective Sales Managers in 2024
Sales managers have one of the most challenging yet critical roles in any organization. They are responsible for the performance, development, and success of their sales teams. A great sales manager can be the difference between hitting or missing quota, retaining or losing top talent, and ultimately growing or stalling company revenue.
But what exactly do the most effective sales managers do differently? What habits and behaviors do they demonstrate consistently to lead their teams to success?
In this post, we‘ll take a deep dive into the daily and weekly activities, key traits, and proven strategies of top-performing sales managers. Whether you‘re an aspiring leader or a seasoned veteran, adopting these habits can help you take your sales team to the next level in 2024 and beyond.
Inside the Weekly Schedule of a Rockstar Sales Manager
Great sales managers know that time is their most precious resource. They are intentional and strategic about how they plan and spend each day. While every manager‘s calendar will look a bit different, here are some of the non-negotiable activities that the best consistently block off time for:
1. Shadowing and coaching reps (30-40% of time)
Elite sales managers spend a significant chunk of their week—often 30-40% of their time—sitting side-by-side with their reps, observing calls, providing real-time feedback, and strategizing on deals.
For example, a typical day might include:
- 9:00-10:00am: Join a rep on a demo call, take notes, provide feedback immediately after
- 10:30-11:00am: Review call recordings, identify coaching opportunities
- 2:00-3:00pm: Work with a rep to strategize on an enterprise deal, roleplay the next steps
- 4:00-5:00pm: Conduct a ride-along or "virtual shadow" with a remote rep
They subscribe to the adage "inspect what you expect." Rather than just monitoring results, they proactively coach the behaviors and activities that drive results.
According to a study by the Sales Management Association, companies that spend at least 30 hours per month on rep coaching see 16% higher win rates and 14% better quota attainment than the average.
2. Monitoring KPIs and metrics (15-20% of time)
Data is a sales manager‘s best friend. The best leaders are analytical and use dashboards to closely track both leading indicators (rep activity metrics like number of calls, emails, meetings booked) and lagging indicators (closed deals, revenue generated).
A typical week might include:
- Monday AM: Review weekend numbers, check pipeline health, update forecasts
- Wednesday PM: Deep dive into activity metrics for each rep, identify gaps or concerns
- Friday AM: Analyze the week‘s results, capture learnings, adjust course for next week
They leverage this data to identify coaching opportunities, course-correct quickly, and forecast accurately. High-performing sales managers are 1.6x more likely to closely track rep activity in addition to outcomes compared to underperforming managers (Gong).
3. Conducting high-impact meetings (20-25% of time)
Meetings are often viewed as a necessary evil, but great managers make them a strategic priority. A typical meeting cadence might look like:
- Monday 9am: Weekly team meeting to align on priorities, share updates, recognize wins
- Tuesday-Friday 2pm: 30-minute 1:1s with each rep to review pipeline, metrics, provide coaching
- Thursday 10am: Pipeline review with sales leadership to surface risks and opportunities
- Biweekly or monthly: Skill-building workshops, team bonding activities
Every meeting has a clear purpose and agenda. One-on-ones are sacred time for individualized rep development. Team meetings are engaging, informative, and never a waste of selling time. According to SiriusDecisions, high-performing sales managers spend 20-25 hours per month on rep coaching and development, vs. less than 10 hours for average managers.
4. Collaborating cross-functionally (5-10% of time)
Sales managers know they can‘t operate in a silo. Delivering a great customer experience requires tight alignment with their colleagues in marketing, customer success, product, and finance. High-performing managers build strong internal relationships and have a cadence of check-ins with other department leaders to share insights, tackle challenges, and find win-win solutions.
For example:
- Weekly syncs with marketing to align on lead flow, campaign results, content needs
- Regular check-ins with customer success to review at-risk accounts, renewal opportunities, expansion potential
- Monthly QBRs with product to relay customer feedback, requests, and competitive intel
- Quarterly business reviews with finance to review expense budgets, headcount plans
According to LinkedIn, 89% of sales professionals say collaborating across departments is critical to their sales organization‘s overall success.
5. Always be recruiting (5-10% of time)
With the war for sales talent only intensifying, elite managers are always passively recruiting to build a strong candidate pipeline. They block off a few hours each week to source potential reps, conduct interviews, and sell top candidates on the opportunity.
For instance:
- Carve out 30-60 minutes per day to source candidates and send outreach
- Schedule 2-3 phone screens or interviews per week to keep pipeline full
- Block off time monthly to attend industry events or meetups for networking
- Partner with HR/recruitment to amplify job postings, tap into employee networks
They are in constant hiring mode so they can quickly fill open roles with A-players. 26% of sales managers cited hiring as their #1 challenge last year; the best get proactive to build bench strength (HubSpot).
To quantify the difference, here is a comparison chart of how an average sales manager spends their time vs. a great one:
| Activity | Average Manager | Great Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Admin tasks, putting out fires | 40% | 15% |
| Shadowing and coaching reps | 10% | 35% |
| Monitoring metrics | 15% | 20% |
| Meetings | 30% | 20% |
| Cross-functional collaboration | 5% | 10% |
The Mindsets and Traits of Sales Management Superstars
Effective sales management requires more than just going through the motions and checking boxes on your to-do list. It necessitates embodying key behaviors, mindsets and character traits:
1. Servant leadership
"The best sales managers see themselves as coaches, not bosses. Their #1 job is to serve and support their reps, not the other way around." – Lauren Bailey, Founder of Factor 8 Sales Training
Great managers adopt a servant leadership mentality, recognizing that their #1 role is to serve and support their reps. Instead of taking an authoritarian, command-and-control approach, they see themselves as coaches responsible for enabling their team‘s success. They put their reps‘ needs before their own and work diligently to help them achieve their full potential.
2. Adaptability
"The only constant in sales is change. Great sales managers don‘t just tolerate change, they embrace it. They are proactive, not reactive, and always looking for ways to innovate." – Trish Bertuzzi, Founder of The Bridge Group
If there‘s one constant in sales, it‘s change. Markets shift, new competitors emerge, pandemics hit. Successful managers are agile and can quickly pivot their approach in the face of disruption and adversity. They have the mental toughness and flexibility to lead through challenging times.
According to Harvard Business Review, sales organizations that can reallocate resources quickly in response to market shifts consistently outperform their peers. Adaptability starts at the top.
3. Emotional intelligence
"Sales managers who focus only on the numbers and not the people rarely succeed long-term. The ability to build trust, influence, and motivate is key." – Mike Weinberg, Sales coach and author
People are the heart of sales, and interpersonal skills are essential for effective leadership. Rockstar managers have high emotional intelligence (EQ). They are adept at reading people, building trust and rapport, and adapting their communication style to what motivates each individual rep. They can have difficult conversations with empathy and compassion.
Salesforce reports that reps who rate their manager as "excellent" in communication and people management are 40% more likely to be engaged than those with "average" managers.
4. Lifelong learning
"Leaders are readers. The best sales managers are relentless about personal and professional development. If you‘re not learning, you‘re not growing—and neither is your team." – Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter
With the sales profession evolving at warp speed, ongoing manager development is a must. The best leaders are insatiably curious lifelong learners. They carve out time to work on their own leadership craft and stay on top of emerging industry trends. They are humble enough to seek feedback, admit mistakes and adopt a growth mindset.
Studies show that organizations with strong learning cultures are 92% more likely to innovate and 17% more profitable than their peers (CEB).
5. Exemplary work ethic
"The speed of the leader determines the speed of the pack. Sales managers must embody the behaviors, attitude and hustle they want to see in their reps." – Jill Konrath, Sales strategist and author
Finally, great managers know the importance of leading by example. They are often the first ones in and last to leave the office (or log on and the last to log off in remote settings). They set a high bar and aren‘t afraid to roll up their sleeves and get in the trenches with their team when needed. Their reps are inspired by their unparalleled drive.
As the old adage goes, people join companies but leave managers. 60% of reps say their direct manager is the most important factor in their job satisfaction (Gallup).
Overcoming the Challenges of Sales Management
Of course, embodying these habits and traits is often easier said than done, given the numerous challenges sales managers face. Some common hurdles include:
- Inheriting an underperforming team with a toxic culture
- Attracting, hiring and retaining A-players in a competitive talent market
- Finding enough time to effectively coach and develop their reps
- Keeping their team engaged and motivated to hit stretch goals
- Having to manage up and influence leadership to get needed resources
While there‘s no silver bullet, there are some proactive strategies managers can employ:
- Overcommunicate your vision, standards and expectations from day one; create a team culture by design, not default.
- Adopt a "always be recruiting" mindset to consistently fill your candidate funnel. Leverage your reps‘ networks for high-quality referrals.
- Block off sacred coaching time on your calendar and treat it as a top priority. Identify quick wins to free up more time. Learn to delegate.
- Tap into the unique motivations and drivers of each individual rep. Celebrate small wins. Make it fun. Be human.
- Build the business case for budget/resources using data. Establish strong cross-functional relationships. Frame your requests around organizational impact.
Tips for New and Aspiring Sales Managers
For those who are earlier in their leadership journey, here are a few pieces of advice to set you up for success in a sales management role:
Focus on the transition
Making the leap from individual contributor to manager is not easy. Be patient with yourself. Your job is no longer to be the superstar seller, but to help others become superstars. Let go of your old identity and embrace your new one.
Balance results with development
Yes, hitting your number is table stakes. But don‘t prioritize the short-term at the expense of long-term rep development. Adopt a "and" mindset – achieve results by coaching your team to greatness. Your reps‘ success is your success.
Inspire with your actions
Never ask your team to do something you wouldn‘t be willing to do yourself. Model the behaviors and hold yourself to the same (if not higher) standards you expect from them. They are always watching your example.
Adapt to virtual/hybrid
With remote and hybrid teams here to stay, you must find ways to keep your team engaged and accountable from afar. Establish communication norms. Check in frequently. Leverage video for face time. Don‘t always make it about work – build virtual rapport.
Automate and streamline
There are more sales tools available than ever before to help your team work smarter, not harder. Do an audit of your tech stack and processes. Standardize what‘s working, sunset what‘s not. Automate admin tasks to free up more time for selling and coaching.
Go Forth and Manage Like the Best
Sales management is not for the faint of heart. It requires grit, resilience and a willingness to empower others. But when done well, it is one of the most rewarding roles – a chance to mold the next generation of sales talent and make a real impact on your company‘s bottom line.
By consistently adopting the habits we‘ve covered—spending significant time shadowing and coaching reps, monitoring metrics, leading effective meetings, recruiting top talent, and collaborating cross-functionally—you‘ll be well on your way to sales management superstardom.
Couple those behaviors with the key traits of servant leadership, adaptability, emotional intelligence, lifelong learning, and an exemplary work ethic, and you have the makings of an elite sales leader.
But remember – this is an ongoing journey. Schedule regular time to reflect on your own development areas, gather feedback from your team, and course-correct. Never stop learning and growing.
Your team is counting on you. Now go lead them to greatness!
For more tips on how to put these habits into practice and elevate your sales leadership skills, check out these additional resources:
