You did it – you got the job. You’re officially managing a sales team. So, now what? How do you hit the ground running and ace your first quarter in a new role? We’ve got a game plan for your first 90 days as a sales manager, based on what’s most actionable when you’re in […]
You did it – you got the job. You’re officially managing a sales team.
So, now what? How do you hit the ground running and ace your first quarter in a new role?
We’ve got a game plan for your first 90 days as a sales manager, based on what’s most actionable when you’re in a new role.
And to make it easy, we’re using alliteration. In the first three months, focus on people, presence, process, performance, and planning.
People
You’re a manager now, which means you’re responsible for not just your own wins, but for your team’s accomplishments as well. Being able to skillfully manage your team lays the foundation for the success of everything else, so make that your priority right away.
Get to know your team
One of the most important things to do, especially in the early days of your position, is to invest time in your people. In fact, that should be your main goal of the first 30 days: get to know the team.
If you graduated from a former BDR in the pit to leader of the pack instead of coming from an outside role, you have an advantage here. But even then, you’ve known them as their teammate, not their mentor.
Here are a few things you should do to know your team inside and out:
- Listen to calls. And then when you think you’ve listened to enough, listen to a few more.
- Meet individually with each person a few times to learn strengths, weaknesses, and areas they want to improve. Then, set up a schedule for regular 1:1s.
- Take note of how they communicate, and what works best for each person.
Observe first, adjust second
Our CRO Henry Spitzer has some killer advice on getting to know your team based on his time working with the Boston Red Sox. Just like when you’re building an all-star baseball team, the key to leading your team to success is: observe first, make adjustments second.
“Our hitting coach…would avoid instructing for the first few weeks of a player’s arrival. He wasn’t neglecting them, but rather taking the time to assess that player’s mechanics – balance, rhythm, swing, and so on. His philosophy taught me the value of taking a step back – to fully evaluate a candidate, their potential, and how they project themselves before hastily correcting them.”
And don’t forget that managing a team isn’t just about your relationship with each person on the team, but also about the team dynamic. Take some time to observe how your team works together and how you might be able to foster some camaraderie.
Learn about the other stakeholders
As a team leader, you’re the person who bridges the gap between the salespeople you manage and the rest of the company’s leadership.
That means you need more than a good relationship with your team. You also need to figure out how you can work with other sales managers and business stakeholders.
Make sure to take time to learn how you can collaborate with the heads of other major departments like customer service and marketing. Take note of what you bring to the table and how you balance the other leaders you’re working with. Who’s metric-focused? Who wants qualitative details?
Presence
You’re a new voice in your position, so you’ve gotta make an impression and establish yourself in your first 90 days.
Stand out in meetings
You ever tell a joke that no one hears, and then someone else repeats it louder and everyone laughs? Sometimes meetings are like that, but with ideas.
Tony Ramos worked his way up to BDR Manager at Lusha after over a year as a BDR and then team lead. One of the first things he focused on when he got promoted? Speaking up:
“It was helpful to be active in my meetings. You’re a new voice, you haven’t yet built the credibility. How do you make sure your voice is heard in those meetings and you’re taken seriously? If you’re in a situation where you feel like you’re not getting the space and everyone’s talking over you, how do you insert yourself? And one thing that I’ve done is give a co-sign to things. Like if I want an idea to be my own and someone else says it a different way, I want to make sure that I’m still seen as having something to add and getting recognition.”
Prompts to help you contribute
Tony has a list of great prompts to help new sales leaders contribute in meetings. If you’re feeling stuck and looking for ways to add value to a conversation, try one of these on for size:
- ___, it’s great to see you’re aligned on what I mentioned earlier. To build on that we could also consider…
- That’s a good suggestion ___; what was the thought process?
- I stumbled on an interesting article that could really help us with __ on the agenda.
- I’d also like to mention ___, which I think is important to consider.
- I’ve reviewed the agenda and I’m looking forward to discussing ___.
- Great idea! That brings to mind another point…
- I’d like to add…
- What assumptions are we making? Are they valid? What are our alternative options and how do they compare?
Establish a leadership presence with your team
Ok, so you’ve established your presence with other leaders at the company, but remember you have to set a good impression with your team too and set yourself up as their fearless leader.
Another major action item for Tony when he landed his manager role? “Getting buy-in from the team I’ll be managing, especially because I was managing a lot of people who had been on the same team as me. I did a good job of creating this executive presence even before, because I was the go-to-person. But being responsible for their numbers was different.
So in this transition period I had conversations with them like, ‘I worked alongside you, I know the problems. Now I’m in a position to get you to that next level. They trusted that I understood what was broken in the process that I could fix, and I was open with things that I was working on.”
Get quick results
Just like Rome wasn’t built in a day (nothing worth thinking about multiple times a week would be), leading your team to success won’t happen overnight either.
But at the same time, it’s good to get some quick wins under your cap within the first 90 days – or even the first 30. This is a huge part of building trust with your coworkers and showing competency. It’s important to have success in the near-term that you can put your name to.
Plus, making progress makes your team happy. Win/win.
These quick wins could be something like:
- Evaluating/updating cadences in Salesloft
- Finding ways to kick the funnel and move things forward
- Reviewing old closed/lost deals to see if there are winback opportunities.
Basically, look out for those small things that should be done to make everyone’s lives easier, but no one’s been able to dedicate time to yet.
Process
Once you’ve gotten to know everyone and how you fit into the team, it’s time to take a long, hard look at processes.
When you consider the way your team is going to function, there’s two things to look at: how things currently work and how you’d like them to work.
Get insights from colleagues
Even if you’ve been at the company for a while and were promoted into your manager role, you’ll still need to learn how the company works from your new point of view.
To get a look at how the company works and where there may be gaps in the process, here’s who you should talk to:
- C-levels and VPs: what is their vision for the company? And what are their goals for the next quarter? The next year?
- Marketing team leaders: what are the challenges they’ve faced communicating with sales? How can you integrate your efforts? At what point does an MQL get passed to sales?
- CS leaders: which customers are most satisfied with the product? What pain points do you solve for them?
- SDRs/BDRs/AEs: what’s holding them back from hitting their numbers? Where do they experience frustration and friction in their sales process?
Make plans for your tech stack
As you get a better handle on the processes and challenges, start making a plan for how you might streamline things. What can you do with your current tech? What do you need to close the gap?
You might not be able to solve all the problems in your first 3 months, but you can start coming up with a plan of action.
- Figure out which tools your team is already using. Do you have a CRM? A data provider?
- Are the essentials covered?
- Can you do more with the tech you have? What’s not being used to its fullest potential?
- Can your current tech stack scale with the team?
- Once you’ve established what you have and what you need, take note of any “nice-to-have” items you’d like to add in the future.
You want your tech stack to be efficient so your team can work smarter, not harder. Make sure they’re using the right tools for the job… if not, this is your time to recommend something different.
If you don’t have something like Lusha– which you can get up and running quickly and can streamline your sales motions with easy-to-use prospecting tools, enrichment capabilities, and intent data – start building your case for procurement.
Performance
In your first 90 days as a sales manager, it’s important to figure out how your team is performing (and decide how you’ll help them perform even better).
First, figure out what you’re up against:
- What are the OKRs (objectives and key results) for the company as a whole?
- How is your success as a leader going to be measured?
- What are the expectations for the sales team?
- Understand the current benchmarks for sales
- Track your team’s KPIs and analyze the outcomes
All of this will help you figure out what success looks like at your company and figure out where your team can improve.
And remember, this isn’t a one-time thing. Reviewing performance is a constant part of the role, and you will have to continuously revisit ways you can improve.
Planning
As you set yourself up for success in your new position as sales manager, remember that this is a long game.
As much as you want to (and need to have) some quick wins, don’t forget that some good things take time.
You don’t want to roll out changes too soon before you get the buy-in or the proper setup in place. Especially if that means you have to walk things back, make more changes, and launch things again.
So go ahead and take your time. Look to establish clear, long-term goals and come up with how you can empower your reps to perform at their best. Not just today and tomorrow, but next quarter and next year too.
First 90 Days Checklist
Looking for a quick way to make sure you’re staying on track instead of a bunch of words?
We got you.
Use this checklist for your first quarter as a sales manager.
We'll help you understand if Lusha can solve your business needs.
