Head of Sales

In a family business this is often the first sales manager next to the owner. In a PE portfolio company the team has to perform better quickly and measurably. And within a corporate it is the layer that translates strategy into what salespeople do on Monday morning.

When your best salesperson turns out not to be a manager

It happens a lot. The best salesperson becomes team lead, the team's numbers drop, and you have lost a good salesperson. Or the team grows, but nobody has time to coach. The Sales Director or the owner ends up back in day to day management.

Recognisable signs are a forecast nobody trusts, new salespeople who take too long to perform, and good people who leave. That is when you need a Head of Sales who makes management their craft.

How we select a Head of Sales

For many candidates this is their first real management role. That is exactly where Development Driven Search® works best. We look for ambitious sales professionals for whom this step is the next phase in their development. Often they are people who would have to wait another two years with their current employer. They arrive hungry and stay because they grow with you.

1. Intake. We look at your team, your sales process and the manager above this role. What should the team do better a year from now?
2. Search. We approach sales managers and senior salespeople who are ready for the step into management, including outside your own industry.
3. Selection. We assess coaching leadership and the predictors of success in sales. That way you avoid simply hiring the best salesperson.
4. Start. We guide the offer and the first months. Anyone managing for the first time can join our Sales Leadership Development programme.

On average this finds you the right Head of Sales within 8 to 12 weeks.

Discuss your Head of Sales vacancy with SalesQuarters. Call +31 20 226 90 00 or email info@salesquarters.nl. A first conversation commits you to nothing. Would you like to hear how it went for others first? We will put you in touch with a client as a reference.

Why this works

We have placed managers at this level with ANWB, Konings-Zuivel and EMS, among others. All of them needed results at team level straight away. For Noordhoff we develop the sales leaders ourselves, with workshops for the management team and personal coaching for the managers. What we learn there about good sales management, we use in every selection.