The 7 Ways Great Sales Reps Become Terrible Managers

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In 2008, Google started studying what its best managers did differently.

The list they found is annoyingly basic: coach people, communicate clearly, give the team a vision, and don’t micromanage.

It’s like telling people that the key to success is working hard. It’s true, but there’s a lot more to it.

I’ve had some amazing sales managers who changed the course of my career (for the better).

And I've had some terrible ones who I still can't believe have jobs today.

Being a great sales rep is one job. And helping five other people become great sales reps is a completely different one, which becomes a problem.

You get promoted because you were good at selling. But that’s not your job anymore. 

So today, I’m breaking down 7 things the best sales managers do differently than the ones who suck. 

New managers tend to go with their own ideas because they’re supposed to be the leader. 

As a manager, you should have good ideas. But your ideas aren’t always going to be the best. 

Google studied 180 of its teams and found that psychological safety was the most important part of an effective team.

People need to feel like they can ask questions, admit mistakes, and offer new ideas without fear that the team will embarrass them. 

The study also found that seniority didn't make teams perform better.

So ask your newest rep what they think before giving your answer. And when their idea is better, use it.

That's how you actually show that you want their ideas.

“Hit $4 million this quarter” is a clear target, but it’s not a vision.

A great manager gets their reps bought into the bigger vision of what they sell. 

And this isn’t just about the fluffy “we help people do XYZ” stuff you’re probably thinking. 

Say you sell accounting services. On paper, your team sells bookkeeping, tax prep, and monthly reports. That’s boring. 

But if you follow that work one step further, you're powering America’s small business owners to grow, stay in business, and create jobs in their community. 

That’s something to get excited about. 

You can find that bigger purpose in almost any product, even when the industry sounds boring. Figure out who benefits from your product, and how it can change their life for the better. 

Managers get pressure from both directions.

Leadership wants more forecasts, updates, and CRM fields. And your reps want to know why the heck they should do anything but sell.

One manager on Reddit described the job as getting “blasted both ways”.

A good manager filters that noise for their reps, and fights for them at the management meetings. They push back on bad territory, fight for a rep's promotion, and explain the context when leadership makes a decision the team won't like.

Sometimes the answer will still be no. But the rep should know their manager is on their side.

Insecure managers avoid hiring people who might outshine them.

They worry a star rep will make them look less talented, challenge their ideas, or eventually take their job.

If that scares you, management probably isn't for you.

Your success is now judged on other people's numbers. You should want reps to be better than you and grow into jobs bigger than yours.

A great hire may get more attention than you. That’s good.

You hire them, coach them, and give them room to grow. That's exactly what a great manager does.

Every rep should know their goal, how it's measured, where they stand, and what needs to change.

No surprises during the end-of-quarter performance review.

Decades of goal-setting research shows that specific, challenging goals work when people have the ability, commitment, resources, and feedback needed to pursue them.

So don't say, You need to be more strategic.

Instead say, You created one new executive relationship this quarter. We agreed on four. Let's look at the accounts where we can build the next three.

A great manager is willing to join the sales call, make introductions to their network, research the account, or spend an hour cold calling with the team.

But there's a line between helping a rep and becoming the rep.

Think of the manager like a spotter at the gym. You can help when the weight gets stuck, but you can't lift every rep and expect your team to get stronger.

Being great at sales gives a manager useful game tape. 

But it’s a different skill set than what’s needed to develop another person.

One study followed 1,246 sales reps across 136 teams for a year. 

Reps with strong coaches did better against their sales goals. And when coaching skill was low, more coaching actually made performance worse.

Good coaching means giving clear feedback, showing your rep what good looks like, and helping them solve the next problem on their own.

You know how to sell. Now you have to teach your reps how to do it without you.

Check out The Follow Up Guy on LinkedIn.