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Sales Management: What are the important traits of great VPs of Sales?
I'm interested in hearing from the community on what you think the key traits are for the best VPs of Sales. Looking forward to hearing your responses!
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6 Answers
Leaping over tall buildings without tripping......
Great VP's of Sales are able to manage a number of different, and sometimes contractictory things, simultaneously. Coaching their people; working with customers; assuring the strongest processes, tools, and training are in place; developing/executing an overall sales or go to market strategy; recruiting and hiring, managing the organization to achieve the highest levels of performance are just the start.
The best sales VP's are great business people, they manage sales as a business, making trade-offs that maximize the ability of the organization to achieve the company's goals. The best salesVP's are advocates/evangelists for their customers and sales people within the organization. The best sales VP's carefully blend "cheerleading" with tough minded business management to help their people perform at the highest levels. The best sales VP"s are process focused and make sure the most effective processes are in place. They are analytic, using data to drive decisions and strategies.
Finally, they recognize, they and their teams will trip when leaping over tall buildings. They know how to get up, dust themselves off, learn from the experience and move forward.
Best VP of Sales? A few key attributes stand out.
1. Must be a positive, motivational force in the organization. Sales can be an emotional roller coaster and it takes a great leader to keep the team positive and focused on the goals, even with rejection being ever present.
2. A clear and articulate communicator. No one in the sales organization should have any doubt about the goals, methods and strategies required to achieve those goals, the rewards associated with achievement and the pains associated with lack of effort or adherence to the plan.
3. Well understood role as the Sales VP. The VP Sales is no longer managing sales cycles, except for maybe large, major accounts. The VP Sales is ready to support the sales team and help win business, providing the sales person has managed the sales cycles properly.
4. Advocate for the Sales Team and the Company. The VP Sales needs to put his/her ego aside, raise the sales person's flag for a job well done, and be generous with the accolades when they are deserved.
These are my top four attributes of a great Sales VP.
Craig –
A “top traits” list is relative to the specific demands of the role, which vary greatly among companies. Beyond the essentials that we would all list, the “important traits” that would be among any criteria of mine include:
1. Creative. Optimizing sales (a goal any VP of Sales should have) requires creative ability
2. Empathic. Management should be empathetic and listen to that empathy when making decisions that impact the lives of others—their team.
3. Respectable – as a (sales) team must care to listen to and follow their leader.
Steve | The Sales Standard
Assuming that their primary function is to "drive sales" and that they have a management team under them - then I would say the ability to "develop" the sales managers. Hopefully they would have been very successful at developing sales people and now can transfer that knowledge to a sales manager. Most companies make the mistake of hiring a great sales person with a great track record as VP of Sales when what you need is the great developer of people and those two traits are not normally within the same person. Yes a sales background but the super sales person needs to remain a super sales person, not the manager in any way.
On the leadership part: vision - the ability to recognize change and adapt the sales plan and team quickly
Management part: ability to deliver results
Understands the capabilities/limitations/benefits of the product/service and provides team with resources to tell the story.
Clearly it's a person who can forecast and deliver a growing revenue stream. This involves building a team that the leader knows how to train, motivate and compensate within the constraints of the company and industry. Beyond that, any list of ideal traits aren't realistic.
Jerks, nice guys, slave-drivers and schmoozers can all succeed.
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