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Rep Promotion

sales rep promotion

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Tips for Sales Reps to Get a Promotion

Truth: 9 out of 10 sales leaders have had the experience of promoting the wrong rep into management. If you’re a sales rep working on a promotion, read these tips to make sure you’re not one of the reps who shouldn’t be in management.

Tip #1: Be above quota. If you want to lead and teach reps to hit quota, don’t raise your hand if you haven’t hit or beaten quota for at least 12 straight months or 4 quarters. 

Tip #1a: Don’t be the top rep. If you’re consistently smashing quota, rethink management. You’re the number one mistake, my friend. That’s right you special snowflake, most of the managers I met who were top reps are miserable. You also have more trouble teaching new reps how to be awesome. Why? Because you’re so damn good it’s an art to you – harder to teach an art than a science. Also, you’re wired to win at all costs, and in management, the job is about helping your team win. You’ll also make less money. Yeah I know, I should have led with that.

Tip #2: Process wins. A hiring director wants to see that you have a system in place for how you: 

  1. Attack a list of leads
  2. Document your actions in CRM
  3. Penetrate new accounts
  4. Approach your day
  5. Onboard a new account

Fill in your own blank here, and do it several times. And if you aren’t asked about this in the interview, bring it up. 

Tip #2a. Document that process and hand it in. “Here’s how I approach ABC. I’ve documented it to help some of the new hires.” Boom! Winner!

Tip #3. Actually go and help the new hires. Every team of sellers has a de facto leader. No, not that person who wins every contest, the OTHER person who you go to and who actually answers your questions. The nice and helpful one. THAT’s the future manager of the team. Be them.

Tip #3a. Be a mentor. Ask your manager to assign you as a mentor to newbies on your team or others. Being a mentor for 6 months is the number one way to find out if management is a gig you want. If you don’t enjoy it, that’s your sign it may suit you more to be in control of your own success and commission as a next-level seller vs. manager.

Tip #4. Go Pro. Ask a friend or mentor to review ten random emails you’ve sent to customers or internally and give you feedback on the professionalism of your communication. Nobody is going to hire the master of misspelling or the novelist. Bullet points. Clear. Direct. Grammatically perfect. Completely auto-corrected.

Tip #4a. Now go make them all 30% shorter. Make your subject lines actionable, speak in bullets vs. paragraphs, and have a clear call to action at the end.

Tip #5. Network now. The time to start talking about career moves, desires, and paths is about a year before you probably want it. Do all the managers know your name? How about the directors? When the VP asks who is on the shortlist of folks wanting to move up, are you 100% positive you appear on that list? If not, start booking some lunches or virtual coffees. Start by sharing your desire to grow and asking for advice on how to work to get there.

Tip #5a. Speak up! Ladies, do this 11.5 months before you’re comfortable doing it. The whole reason I started #GirlsClub was to help us level the playing field, and I need your help by actually getting on the field. We’re historically the last to apply and raise our hands – and then we’re upset for not being approached or chosen. That happens because we wait and wait and wait to speak up. Learn more and maybe even participate in our management certification at www.WeAreGirlsClub.com.

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How do I get promoted to Sales Manager

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How Do I Get Promoted to Sales Manager?

If you’ve decided sales leadership is right for you and you’re ready to get noticed for management, this blog is all about answering the question, “How Do I Get Promoted to Sales Management?”

Here’s where to start:

1. Go talk to your Manager (or another Manager or Director if you don’t love your boss) immediately about your desire. It goes something like this:

“Could we talk about a career path in our next 1:1? I think I may be interested in Sales Management and I’d like your input, your advice, and your help if you think it’s appropriate.”

We call this “raising your hand.” It does NOT mean you think you’re ready now. It does NOT mean you think you can do it better than he/she can. It means, “I’m interested. Please help.” This is a critical first step because you’ll get nowhere without internal support.

2. Find at least one internal advocate. This is a work mentor who gives you feedback and advice and assignments to help you grow. Equally importantly, they are your voice in the room when you aren’t there. 

Trust me, at some point every promotion decision comes down to a group of leaders in a room saying, “So, this person or that person?” 

You need a person in that room who can give your sound bite. Sound bite? Yup. You, like all great products and services, will have an elevator pitch. The 1-2 sentences that sum you up as you are seen by your peers, team, and advocates. Don’t leave that to chance, start helping all 3 groups get to know you and the kind of leader you’ll be. That brings us to the next point.

3. Go get to know people. Three groups: your peers, your leaders, and yourself. Build some rapport, have some coffee, pick their brain, get some advice, offer some help. Find a reason and work on building a bridge with one new person a month. If you’re feeling most comfortable doing this with your peers, then start with your leaders. You must get comfortable hanging out with executives, so start now. These are your people! You’re just as amazing…they’re just older! 😉

Did she really mean yourself? Yup. This is critical. The toughest people to manage in my entire career were because they had a skewed vision of themselves. Do a behavioral assessment, take a values quiz, go to therapy. The more you know and let yourself off the hook (you perfectionist, you), the more you’ll be able to meet your future team where they are, get along with peers, and not hijack your career due to some personal hot buttons. (Hot buttons are your own baggage that make you overreact in stressful situations. We all have ‘em, honey, so find yours and slap a nametag on them and own them; it helps.)

4. Get control of your time. Like fast. Nothing will ruin your sound bite faster than being the guy who doesn’t turn things in on time, no-shows for meetings, or is always promising but never delivering. You’re picturing that guy in your life right now, aren’t you? We all know one. Don’t be that guy! This is why we created the “Own Your Sales Management Day” course and ALWAYS put it in the first three classes for clients. We need to move you out of reactivity and into proactivity ASAP because proactivity is where you shine. That’s you being in charge of your day and what you get done, not succumbing to the whims and pressures of the world. Your ability to organize, delegate, schedule, push, and delete the stuff that doesn’t matter is what will create the time and space for you to rise. 

You managing your time is what will create the time and space for you to rise.

5. Start training. Management is a whole new set of skills. You wouldn’t move from BDR to AE closing without studying how to demo and close, right? Don’t think for a second the move to management is just a natural transition either. (Sorry). 

Even as you continue to rise up the ladder, the transition from Rep to Manager will remain your hardest change.

It’s time to drop our closing skills, our competitive streak, our natural speed and adorable sales style. This is a whole new bag. And in it we have to put better listening skills, patience, planning, delegating, organizing, and coaching. Be clear, it’s a big bag. You want to start filling it right away. Look for tactical sales management skills, because “Being a Leader Coach” is NOT the same as how to conduct a tactical call coaching session. Leadership theory has its firm place (so inspiring, new ideas!), but it’s the hard job skills that will make or break your first year. Nobody will look to you to inspire the next generation if you can’t conduct a basic sales huddle.

If you know leadership is right for you, but aren’t sure how to get promoted to sales manager, then take our Sales Management Certification! It’s a 6-month virtual certification training program for new or aspiring sales managers that teaches the tactical skills you need to thrive as a sales manager!


If you’re looking for a job in sales management, check out Jooble!

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Is Sales Management Right for You

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Is Sales Management Right for You?

Recently, one of the awesome women in #GirlsClub shared that she wanted to move all the way up the sales ladder before trying management. She wanted to be credible to her future team. She had also learned the hard way that just because she could DO sales didn’t mean she could TEACH sales. I was so freaking proud of her at that moment. She knew her strengths and she was not blindly reaching for the promotion. It also gave me pause.

Do we need to do every role in sales before managing? I didn’t. I sold for a short time and then leap-frogged into sales (see my story here). 

Truth is, management is not a fit for everyone – regardless of your sales prowess. In fact, maybe because of your sales prowess. I’ve seen top reps make horrible managers and “B” reps be amazing coaches.

It’s really more about your natural behaviors and values than skills. Our (amaaaazing) Marketing Director at Factor 8 is very actively NOT seeking a management role. My bestie says the same thing, “Hell no! Life is better when I’m in charge of my own destiny and not in charge of anyone else’s crap.” My bestie may have a mouth like mine. 😉 

So if you’re wondering, “Is sales management right for me?”, start by asking yourself a few questions:

  1. Am I a natural teacher? If you love mentoring the new kid, lending a helping hand, and being shadowed, this is absolutely your first clue that management is a good direction.
  2. Does answering lots of questions annoy me? If your daily highlight is being the go-to person, it’s another good clue. (In contrast, my bestie says, “Stop freaking Slacking me! Figure it out yourself! What am I, your mom!?” Not so much someone who’ll love management…) 
  3. How important is control to me? This one’s a double-edged sword. Most great managers have a high “D” factor in the DISC assessment or “A” factor in Predictive Index. Those behavior traits that say things like, “driver, in charge, authoritative, assertive” (in my case…competitive, pioneering, sometimes arrogant. Wait, what?!) When you strive to lead, actually having the title really helps. You feel more in charge of your own destiny and less likely to go crazy based on what “they” are doing above.

Flipside: As a manager, you actually have LESS control over your daily life, workload, task list, end results, and paycheck. You’re basically being judged by and paid on the average performer on your team. If that last sentence gave you hives, keep driving your own sales car; don’t trade it in for the sales school bus.

If you’re still not sure if sales management is right for you, join me (or watch the recording) for a free session on “Tips To Get Promoted To Sales Manager” where I’ll share my top tips to help you determine if management is meant for you and, if it is, how to get that promotion.

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