Leading a sales team: hiring, coaching, forecasting

Hire, onboard, coach and forecast for a sales team, with a written process, a fair pay plan and a dashboard you review every week.

Most sales managers were the best seller on the team, and nobody taught them the new job. So they close their reps' deals, run forecasts on gut feel, copy a pay plan from the last company, and wonder why the team depends on them. This course covers the work that sits between the seller and the number: hiring with role plays, a written sales process, onboarding that shortens ramp, pipeline reviews, forecasting methods, coaching from real calls, targets and pay plans, a small dashboard and a team people want to stay in. Each module ends with something you can put to use with your team the following week.

What you'll be able to do

• Plan a weekly calendar that puts management work ahead of your own selling
• Write a hiring profile and run a structured interview with a sales role play and a scoring sheet
• Build a 90-day onboarding plan with ramp milestones for a new rep
• Document your team's sales process with stages, exit criteria and the activities that move a deal
• Run a weekly pipeline review and produce a forecast using at least two methods
• Coach a rep from a recorded call using one specific behaviour and a follow-up check
• Draft a quota and pay plan and test it against three performance scenarios
• Set up a one-page dashboard of leading and lagging measures for the team

Syllabus

Module 1: Stop selling and start managing

Why the skills that made you a top seller can hold a team back, the traps new sales managers fall into, and how to rebuild your week around the team's output.

• 1.1 Your job is the team's number, not your own
• 1.2 When to join a rep's deal and when to stay out
• 1.3 Setting expectations with your old peers
• 1.4 Redesign your first 30 days as manager

Module 2: Hire people who sell, not people who interview well

How to define the salesperson you need, run a structured interview, use a role play to see real skill, and score candidates so the decision does not come down to gut feel.

• 2.1 Write the profile before the job ad
• 2.2 Structured interviews beat good conversations
• 2.3 The role play that shows real skill
• 2.4 Run a mock hiring round

Module 3: Get new hires selling sooner

How to plan onboarding and ramp so a new rep reaches full productivity on a predictable path, with milestones you can check each week.

• 3.1 Ramp is a plan, not a waiting period
• 3.2 The first 30 days: product, process, people
• 3.3 When a new hire falls behind
• 3.4 Build a 90-day onboarding plan

Module 4: Write down how your team sells

How to turn the way your best people sell into a documented process with stages, exit criteria and key activities, so coaching and forecasting have something to hang on.

• 4.1 Why a written process makes everything else work
• 4.2 Stages and exit criteria from the buyer's side
• 4.3 Key activities and tools for each stage
• 4.4 Document your sales process

Module 5: Run pipeline reviews and call the forecast

How to run a pipeline review that helps reps move deals, and how to forecast with several methods so you can give your own manager a number you believe.

• 5.1 A pipeline review is coaching, not interrogation
• 5.2 Three ways to forecast, and why to use more than one
• 5.3 Spotting deals that will slip
• 5.4 Run a review and build a forecast

Module 6: Coach from real calls and meetings

How to coach sales skills using recorded calls and joint meetings: picking one behaviour, giving feedback that lands, and checking that it changed.

• 6.1 Coach one behaviour at a time
• 6.2 Call reviews that reps look forward to
• 6.3 Joint meetings: observe, do not rescue
• 6.4 Run a coaching session and follow up

Module 7: Set targets and pay that drive the right selling

How to set quotas from capacity and history, and how to design a pay plan with base, variable pay, accelerators and clawbacks that rewards what you actually want.

• 7.1 Setting quotas people believe in
• 7.2 The parts of a sales pay plan
• 7.3 Pay plans that backfire
• 7.4 Model a quota and pay plan

Module 8: Run the team from a one-page dashboard

Which numbers a sales manager should watch, the difference between leading and lagging measures, and how to build a dashboard you review weekly without drowning in reports.

• 8.1 Leading and lagging measures
• 8.2 From numbers to coaching decisions
• 8.3 Build your dashboard

Module 9: Build a team people want to stay in

How culture forms in a sales team, what drives good people to leave, and how to use recognition, stay interviews and fair treatment to keep them.

• 9.1 Culture is what you tolerate
• 9.2 Why salespeople leave and how to know early
• 9.3 Recognition and growth paths
• 9.4 Assemble your team playbook

Frequently asked questions

How long does the course take?

About ten hours across nine modules, including the exercises. Most people take five to six weeks, because several exercises need a week with a real team.

I am not a manager yet. Is this useful?

Yes, if you are a senior seller thinking about the move. Module 1 helps you decide whether the job suits you, and the hiring and coaching modules work with peers as practice partners.

How is this different from First-time manager?

First-time manager covers general people management: delegation, feedback and running meetings. This course covers the sales-specific parts: quotas, pipeline reviews, forecasting, call coaching and pay plans.

Does it cover financial advisory teams?

The methods apply to any sales team. For the rules on how advisers sell and are paid in Singapore, see Selling financial advice in Singapore: needs-based and compliant, and check your firm's policies.

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