What Type of Sales Manager Are You? The Start-up Sales Manager

In our previous article, we discussed the Selling Sales Manger. This manager often works well in small or new divisions. They build a new sales teams and then transition to a more traditional sales management role. Similarly, the Start-up Sales Manager also works in new companies or divisions, building a sales team from scratch. The key difference is they do not have a personal sales quota like a Selling Sales Manager.

Starting with a clean slate and building a fresh team is an advantage of being a Start-up Sales Manager. You get to create the sales process, the business model and the structure of the sales team as you see fit. However, all of those things take a lot of work.

Build New Sales Processes the Right Way

The focus of the Start-up Sales Manager is to build a new team without existing sales processes, resources, salespeople, or sales culture. These conditions require them to be resourceful. They will need to develop new processes for hiring, on-boarding, coaching, training, and assessing performance.

For the Start-up Sales Manager, experience with creating new sales teams will be critical. This gives them the insider knowledge to create processes that will be effective. It also gives them the foresight to take advantage of what is at hand, such as corporate resources, venture capital, or other funding. This role can be difficult at first. Many Start-up Sales Managers do not have access to the resources needed such as: lead lists, sales collateral, CRM system, marketing support, etc.) They must be created or outsourced.

On the other hand, they do have the advantage of a clean slate. Since there are no ineffective processes to overcome, they are able to establish expectations, set standards, create processes, hire the right salespeople, and build a true sales culture the right way.

Don’t Linger as a Start-up Sales Manager

Ideally, the life cycle of the Start-up Sales Manager should be relatively short. They need to transition as quickly as possible into a Pure Growth Sales Manager. Success is measured by the achievement of initial sales goals and objectives within the time frame specified. This varies based on the company and market conditions. In addition, quality and quantity of sales talent, as well as product and service differentiation.

Whether it winds up being several months or several years, once the start-up phase is over, the Start-up Sales Manager should to move into a full-time sales coaching and management role. Then they can monitor their processes, add new salespeople, and increase shareholder value.