Sales
Sales Manager / Director
You stop closing and start coaching, and the first six months are a grief process about that.
You stop closing and start coaching, and the first six months are a grief process about that.
A day that is actually representative
| Time | What you are actually doing |
|---|---|
| 08:30 | Forecast call. Your job is to be the person whose number is believed. |
| 10:00 | A deal review that is actually coaching — asking questions rather than taking over. |
| 12:30 | A performance conversation with a rep at 60% of quota for two quarters. |
| 14:30 | Hiring. The single highest-leverage thing you do and the first to be squeezed out. |
| 16:30 | Territory and quota design, which decides more of the outcome than any coaching will. |
The decisive round
“Your best rep is at 60% and has been for two quarters.”
Interviewer: “They used to be your top performer. What do you do?”
A weak answer. “I'd have a conversation to understand what's going on, put them on a performance improvement plan with clear targets, and give them the support they need to get back on track.” Jumps to the instrument before the diagnosis, and a PIP for someone who was a top performer usually produces a resignation rather than a recovery.
A strong answer. “Two quarters at 60% from someone who used to be top is a diagnosis problem, not a performance problem, and there are only about four causes.
Territory — did I change it? If I moved their best accounts or split their patch, this is my doing and no coaching fixes it. This is the most common cause and the one managers are slowest to consider because it implicates them.
Skill — did the market or product move? A rep who was excellent at selling to a mid-market buyer can genuinely struggle when we move upmarket, and that's coachable but it's a real gap.
Motivation — something outside work, or something inside it. A top rep who was passed over for promotion often goes quiet for exactly two quarters before resigning.
Or the pipeline was always inherited. Some 'top performers' were sitting on a lucky patch.
So I'd start with the data — their activity, their pipeline coverage, their close rate versus their own history. If activity has dropped, it's motivation. If activity is fine and close rate has dropped, it's skill or fit. The numbers tell me which conversation to have before I have it.
Then I'd have a direct conversation without the instrument: 'You were at 130% and you're at 60%. I don't think you got worse. What changed?' Top performers usually tell you, and often it's something I can fix.
A PIP is what you use when you've diagnosed and the answer is fit. Leading with it on a former top performer is how you lose someone who was recoverable — and they land at a competitor.”
Considering territory first — the cause that implicates the manager — and using activity-versus-close-rate to choose the conversation. Naming the PIP as a last instrument rather than a first one is the maturity signal.
What to build or bring
- A rep you turned around, and one you exited, with what distinguished them.
- Your forecast accuracy as a manager, which is the number that decides your credibility.
- How you hire — your interview loop and what you screen for.
- A territory or quota design decision and what it did to attainment.
Compensation
| Market | Band | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $150k – $220k base | OTE 1.8–2×, team-attainment weighted |
| India | ₹35L – ₹90L OTE | Strong market as India becomes a revenue centre rather than a support one |
The book for this field
Sales
What sales postings actually ask for, the roles and how they differ, pipeline and forecasting, selling technical and AI products, the loop, and the honest version of crossing over from a technical role.
Cross-cutting
Skills every archetype tests
These are shared across every field on this site — the same question asked in different vocabulary — so preparation here compounds rather than being spent once. The book above is specific to your field.