Sales professionals tend to love working with customers and learning new things. They’re often focused on reaching leadership positions in which they can teach their own team what they’ve learned and help the business reach its goals more effectively.

To stand out when seeking a leadership position, sales professionals will need to cultivate three essential skills. These skills can help you lead more effectively and make you a more attractive candidate for a leadership role.

The Ability to Teach

Sales managers must be able to break down the sales process for their teams, spot strengths and weakness in each team member, and adapt their teaching to help team members build on strengths while they shore up weaknesses. They must be able to draw the lines between each team member’s work in the field and the company’s overall goals.

To stand out among sales leadership candidates, work on communicating how you help your team members understand the big picture and work on their own sales skills. Think about how you would coach a new team member to reach their quota.

The Ability to Create a Playbook

Being able to help team members achieve goals is a must. The best leaders, however, aren’t just good at motivating people; they can also communicate the systems and processes they used to get where they are.

Start putting together your own sales playbook by writing down the steps in your sales process, tracking metrics related to your work, and discussing how you overcome challenges like a customer’s hesitance or the lure of a new sales territory. Being able to explain your processes clearly demonstrates that you’ve thought them through and can communicate them to a team.

The Ability to Choose Top Players

If you were putting together your own sales dream team, who would you hire and why? Which skills are essential? Which can your team learn on the job? How would you guide that learning?

Sales team leaders need to be good at choosing the team members who will help the group thrive, align with the company’s culture, and meet its goals consistently. Think about why you’d choose certain sales candidates over others and which skills and values you prioritize on a top-notch team.

At SMR Group, our recruiters connect sales and marketing professionals to some of the best jobs and leadership positions in the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. For help landing your next job, contact us today.