Hiring a Sales Manager requires clarity on how growth targets will be planned, coached, and delivered. This role shapes pipeline health, team execution, and forecast reliability across markets and channels. A structured hiring process minimizes costly mis-hires and safeguards revenue performance when targets become more demanding.

What is a Sales Manager?

A Sales Manager converts strategy into weekly execution, guiding reps on prospecting, qualification, and closing. In startups they build playbooks and hire; in enterprises they run territories, coaching, and forecast reviews.

Quick tip: Post a highly-relevant Sales manager job description that clearly outlines quota ownership, target segments, and expected coaching cadence.

Where to Find the Best Sales Manager Candidates?

To hire a Sales Manager who can coach, forecast, and hold the line on process, source from places where leaders are measured on repeatable results. Look for managers who have led teams through territory shifts, pricing changes, and mid-quarter pipeline repairs.

• Revenue leadership communities where managers share forecast hygiene, coaching cadences, and deal review routines.
• CRM user groups where leaders discuss pipeline stages, inspection rhythms, and adoption fixes.
• Industry conferences and speaker rosters that reveal managers trusted to teach practical selling systems.
• Competitor and adjacent-market alumni networks with proven segment knowledge and buyer-language familiarity.
• Specialist sales recruiters focused on frontline leadership, not individual-contributor placements.

How to Screen for Good Sales Managers?

Hiring a Sales Manager succeeds when screening tests coaching proof, pipeline discipline, and forecast credibility early. This stage verifies whether outcomes came from repeatable routines or one-off deals. These tips for hiring Sales Manager talent reduce interview noise and expose execution gaps fast.

• Use AI Recruit to shortlist leaders with clear quota history, team size, ramp impact, and retention data.
• Run a structured pipeline review task or employ a talent assessment test to check stage hygiene, next-step quality, and risk identification skill.
• Use AI video interviewing to observe deal-coaching style, questioning depth, and accountability under pushback scenarios.
• Close with HR-led validation of claims through references, comp alignment, and leadership fit for pressure cycles.

How to Assess Skills of Sales Managers?

To hire a Sales Manager who improves outcomes, assess how they coach, inspect pipeline, and call forecast risk. The goal is repeatable execution, not heroic closing. 

Pro Tip: Try a scenario-led Sales Manager test that evaluates coaching approach, forecasting judgment, and deal inspection skills.

What Soft Skills are Important for Sales Managers?

Soft skills reveal whether a leader can set higher expectations, give constructive feedback, and drive performance improvements without damaging trust, motivation, or team morale.

• Coaches with questions, not monologues, in live deal reviews.
  
• Holds reps accountable while protecting confidence after lost deals.
  
• Communicates priorities clearly when targets change mid-quarter.
  
• Builds trust with peers across marketing, product, and finance.

Hard Skills of Sales Managers that you Must Test

Hard skills confirm a leader can design, operate, and scale structured systems effectively, not merely manage people or rely on interpersonal influence alone.

• Forecasts using stage criteria, evidence, and probability discipline.
  
• Diagnoses pipeline gaps and rebuilds coverage within set timelines.
  
• Runs structured 1:1s, call coaching, and weekly cadence.
  
• Uses CRM dashboards to spot slippage and activity-quality issues.

How to Interview a Sales Manager?

Interviewing a Sales Manager should feel like a working session, not a biography check. Ask for a real pipeline slice, a forecast call they would stand behind, and a coaching plan for a rep who is active but not converting. The goal is to see how they inspect evidence, challenge assumptions, and drive behaviour change without demotivating the team. When you hire Sales Manager talent, the strongest signal is repeatable cadence: what they review weekly, what they coach daily, and how they prevent “end-of-quarter surprises” through early risk calls.

Bonus Resource: Apply structured Sales Manager interview questions to consistently assess inspection discipline, coaching depth, and forecast logic across interviewers..

How Much Does a Sales Manager Cost?

Cost varies by region, team scope, and quota size. First-line managers running SMB cycles cost less than leaders handling enterprise territories and longer deal stages. When you hire a Sales Manager, budget for base pay plus variables tied to team attainment and forecast accuracy. Use the table to anchor expectations.

Conclusion

Hiring a Sales Manager works best when coaching depth, pipeline inspection, and forecast discipline are tested as early as possible. The right leader raises rep consistency and reduces quarter-end surprises. For role-specific assessments and structured evaluation support, connect with the PMaps team at 8591320212 or assessment@pmaps.in.