Moving to Sales Leadership

By: Justin Welsh

5-minute read

One of the most difficult transitions for talented sales leaders to make is jumping into that first VP of Sales opportunity. Running an entire revenue department is significantly different than managing a team or managing a group of managers.

The best way to come out of the gates fast is to have a process defined for how you’re going to build, track, and manage your sales department.

Here are four simple tips that you can implement to establish this process and maximize your results.

1.  Define your department values

If you are stepping into a VP role at your current company or a new company, you’ll likely find that they already have company-wide values. It’s a best practice to establish what the company stands for. Why should it be any different for your sales department?

Given that the sales department will be a reflection of what you believe is important, start by thinking through what you hold near and dear to your heart as a professional.

  • Don’t like complaints without offering up suggestions? → “We are optimistic & solutions-oriented.”
  • Always treat your customers like gold? → “We are a customer-first sales team.”
  • Do you believe it’s everyone’s job to chip in recruiting? → “We are all {InsertCompanyName} recruiters”

Defining your values lays the foundation for your team and lets them know exactly what you find most important. These values should be turned into awards, tied to interview questions, etc. The more you march to your “values drum,” the more likely they are to become part of your team’s everyday lexicon.

2. Create your objectives and key results

The easiest way to get very little done is to focus your time and energy on too many things at once. This is where OKRs (objectives & key results) come into play. OKRs are meant to serve as your north star for what is and isn’t a priority.

Objectives are generally broader ideas such as “grow revenue,” or “improve customer satisfaction.” Underneath each objective is generally 2-3 key results that are quantifiable. For instance, underneath the objective, “grow revenue,” you might have three key results:

  1. Hit our bookings target of $3M
  2. Move average contract value from $10,000 to $12,000
  3. Generate 30% more inbound leads

You should define OKRs at the company level, the department level (sales), and for each of your leaders. All OKRs across your sales leadership team should roll up to your main objectives, so the entire department is aligned. This will help keep all of your team members focused on the things that are most important to your department.

3. Solidify & delegate performance expectations

Once OKRs have been defined, there needs to be a tactical game plan to help achieve your objectives. One of the biggest mistakes I see first-time VPs make is trying to performance manage the tactics rather than the Director or Manager in charge.

I recommend that you sit down with each person on your team that’s in charge of a sales unit and work together to define the performance expectations of the team and the individuals that make up the team.

For instance, if you’re meeting with your head of Sales Development, it’s important to understand the KPIs that the SDRs are responsible for as both a team and as individuals. Once you’ve agreed on these KPIs, it’s crucial that the Sales Development leader understands that they own managing the team to these numbers, not you. Any sales managers underneath them must own their team KPIs, and their individual SDR KPIs.

As the VP, it’s on you to delegate all tactical performance expectations to your leadership team, and then it’s your job to hold your direct reports accountable.

4. Establish your leadership cadence

The best way to hold your team accountable is to be consistent with what you want to review, how you want to review it, and when. This is what I call my, “leadership cadence.”

I’ve always followed the following cadence:

  • Monday: Open calendar to prepare for weekly meetings
  • Tuesday: Cross-departmental day. Meet with heads of other units (CS, Marketing, etc.)
  • Wednesday: Sales leadership 1:1s
  • Thursday: Open for projects
  • Friday: Weekly review & forecasting update

When I meet with my leadership team members on Wednesday, they know we’ll be reviewing progress against OKRs, and a few major KPIs that we agreed (in the previous section) was their responsibility to manage. They also know to come prepared to offer solutions if they are struggling in any area. That generally takes 15-30 minutes. After that, we have 30 minutes to discuss open agenda items, additional challenges, bottlenecks, and life in general.

Conclusion

By no means is this an exhaustive list of what you need to be successful as a VP of Sales or revenue leader, but it’s a great place to start.

Being a great VP means having a process, not shooting from the hip or being a lone wolf. Lay your foundation with values, get your teams aligned with OKRs, set crisp performance expectations for your leaders, and meet regularly to discuss.

By Justin Welsh

If you’re interested in learning more about leveling-up to VP, feel free to visit my website at www.theofficialjustin.com

You can also read Justin’s contribution to the Secrets of High-Growth Sales Leadership ebook or listen to his podcast episode.

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