Sales management · The sales manager's job
Pick your sales manager on the job's skills, not on last year's sales.
Promoting a rep to sales manager means changing the job from closing deals to making others close them. A weighted criteria matrix scores each candidate on that job. This page ends with a decision record for every candidate and a first-90-days plan for the person chosen.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
Promoting a rep to sales manager means changing the job from closing deals to making others close them. A weighted criteria matrix scores each candidate on that job. This page ends with a decision record for every candidate and a first-90-days plan for the person chosen.
At a packaging firm in Coimbatore, Murali topped the sales chart three years in a row. The owner made Murali manager in April. By September two reps had left, Murali was still closing the big accounts personally, and the owner had lost a good seller and gained a poor manager.
The reason is simple. Selling and managing are different jobs, and the first is a bad test for the second. A weighted matrix makes you write down what the manager's job needs before you look at names, so that the loudest sales record does not decide.
The owner decides, with one other person scoring independently, such as a senior colleague or a trusted adviser. If a relative or a long-serving employee is a candidate, the matrix gives you a written reason for the decision that you can show them.
The page follows the time log and the skills 360. You use the same duty list to build the criteria, and the 90-day plan hands the new manager the first routines from the audit.
Where this sits
Topic 1 of 14 in sales management: the sales manager's job. What the manager or owner is actually responsible for, and how to check it.
- The topic after
- Sales planning and goals
If you want this done for you
The last three hires interviewed well and could not sell.
The work
What this is actually like.
“The top seller is a trap with a good reason”
They have earned the reward, and a refusal feels unfair. But if their numbers come from personal relationships, they will keep selling. Promote them only if they have shown they teach others, and otherwise offer a senior seller title and a raise.
“Leading former peers is the hardest week”
The new manager now sets targets for people who were equals last month. Say it in a team meeting on day one, name what changes, and agree one thing the manager will not change. Silence invites gossip.
“Weights matter more than scores”
Setting weights before you see candidates stops you adjusting them to suit your favourite. Put the weights on paper, sign them, and only then collect evidence. A change of weights after scoring needs a written reason.
“Not choosing anyone is an option”
If no candidate scores well, hire from outside or run the team yourself with a coordinator. A weak promotion costs more than an empty chair, and it cannot be quietly undone.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The weighted criteria sheet
Six to ten criteria, each with a weight, the weights adding to 100. Examples: coaching juniors, reporting discipline, honesty with customers and colleagues, planning, handling a dispute, and results. Results carry a modest weight so they cannot decide alone.
Result: Finished when the weights total 100 and each one has a sentence explaining why.
The evidence pack per candidate
For each person: two examples of helping a junior sell, their last four reports, any customer feedback, and any breach of the firm's rules. The owner compiles it from files and the people who work with the candidate.
Result: Finished when every score has an example beside it.
Independent scores
Two scorers each rate every candidate 1 to 5 on every criterion without talking first. Then a sheet with the weighted totals and the places the scorers disagree.
Result: Finished when the two sets of numbers were filled in before anyone compared them.
The decision record
One page per candidate: score, the strongest reason for and against, the development gap, and what the owner told them. This is what you show a long-serving employee or a family member who was not chosen.
Result: Finished when each candidate has been told the result in person within the same week.
The first-90-days plan
A plan with dates for the first one-to-one with every rep, the first field ride, the first weekly review, and one task the manager hands over by day 30. A short self-rating of the common failure points sits at the top.
Result: Finished when the manager can show the owner the week's review sheet on day 30.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Should the promoted person keep their own accounts?
What do I do about a family member who expects the job?
How do I support someone who has never managed?
Can I promote someone on probation?
Is outside hiring better?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
The rest of the sales manager's job
Or read all of sales management.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.