Roles we recruit
Seven practices, 27 functions. Start at the practice when you cannot yet name the title; go straight to the function when you can.
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A sales manager runs a team of account executives: coaching, deal reviews, pipeline discipline, hiring and the weekly forecast. Strong reps are often promoted into the seat and struggle, so we screen for teams they grew, reps they coached up from the middle, and forecasts that landed.
A new sales manager changes the team’s number through other people, so the first quarter is about rhythm, coaching and a forecast you can trust. Each stage below has a signal we test for first.
The ramp, and the test behind each milestone
Weeks 1 and 2
One-on-ones with each account executive, a review of every open opportunity, and time on calls to see how each rep actually sells, not how the CRM says they do.
On track looks like a written view of each rep's strengths, gaps and pipeline, shared with their manager.
How we test for it before you meet them
A deal review exercise in our screen: three anonymized opportunities. We score the questions they ask and which deal they would spend time on first.
Weeks 3 to 6
Weekly pipeline reviews and a forecast call with clear stage definitions, so deals move or come out, and the number is called on evidence.
On track looks like a weekly forecast within an agreed range of what closes, with stages that mean something.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask how close their forecasts landed at their last job, quarter by quarter, and check it with a former leader.
Weeks 7 to 10
A coaching plan for the reps in the middle, built on call reviews and ride-alongs, with one or two skills worked on at a time rather than a list.
On track looks like measurable change in two or three reps' activity, conversion or deal size.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask for a rep they coached from the middle of the team to beating target and what changed. References from those reps tell us more than the manager's own account.
Weeks 11 to 13
A hiring plan for open seats, interview loops that test selling rather than talk, and territory or account splits adjusted where coverage is weak.
On track looks like open seats with interviews running and a territory plan their leader has signed off.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask about the last three reps they hired: how they interviewed, who succeeded and who did not, and why.
After day 90
The quarter's result for the whole team, fewer surprises in the forecast, and a bench of reps ready for bigger accounts.
On track looks like a team at or near its number with no single rep carrying it.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask how they would grow the team's number next year without adding headcount. A specific answer predicts a manager who builds capability.
Five responsibilities. If the seat also carries a personal quota as the main measure, it is a player-coach AE; if it manages managers, it is a sales director.
Call reviews, ride-alongs and one-on-ones that improve how each rep sells.
Inspecting the opportunities that matter, unblocking them and removing the ones that will not close.
Clear stage definitions, clean CRM data and enough pipeline for each rep’s number.
Calling the team’s number on evidence, and raising risk early rather than at quarter end.
Interviewing for selling skill, onboarding new reps and building a bench.
Three neighboring seats absorb work people assume belongs here. Drawing the line wrong is how a sales manager ends up closing deals all day or running strategy nobody executes.
That seat ownsSeveral teams or regions, the managers who run them, the sales plan and headcount.
Hire it instead whenyou have more than one team and need someone to lead the managers.
That seat ownsA personal quota on larger or more complex deals, sometimes mentoring newer reps.
Hire it instead whenyou need more closing capacity rather than a coach for the team.
That seat ownsThe systems, data, territories and reporting the sales team runs on.
Hire it instead whenthe forecast is unreliable because the data and process are broken, not the coaching.
The title stays the same; the team does not. Pick the one that matches yours.
Takes over a team that has reported to the founder or a VP, and puts rhythm and coaching in place.
Grows a team through hiring while keeping the number, often doubling headcount in a year.
Leads AEs on long, complex deals where deal strategy and executive access matter most.
The questions we ask in our own screen. Use them in yours; the warning signs are as useful as the answers.
Every candidate we put forward is scored on these five, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included. Four out of five with a named weakness beats a clean sweep you cannot verify.
| What we score | Weak evidence | Strong evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Team results | Personal sales records, with team numbers left vague. | The team’s attainment by quarter, with how it was spread across reps. |
| Coaching | No example of a rep who improved under them. | Reps coached from the middle of the team to beating target, confirmed by those reps. |
| Forecast accuracy | Cannot say how close forecasts landed. | Quarter-by-quarter forecasts within a tight range, confirmed by a former leader. |
| Hiring | Hires on instinct with no record of who succeeded. | A structured loop and a hiring record they can explain, misses included. |
| Fit with your motion | A transactional background for an enterprise team, or the reverse. | Has managed a team selling to buyers like yours, at a similar deal size. |
Public US benchmarks, read October 2026. Sales manager pay splits into base and a variable tied to the team’s number: Built In’s self-reported additional cash averages $61,972 on a $105,259 average base. Salary.com’s employer-reported base band runs higher than Built In’s $92,500 median base.
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the middle half of reported pay.
Base salaryWages including commission (BLS)Average total pay, base plus variable
Sales Manager
Salary.com base, Built In total
$114,937 to $144,893 base$167,231 average total
Sales Director
Salary.com base, Built In total, the next seat
$174,921 to $214,534 base$264,504 average total
Sales managers
BLS, all industries, wages include commission
$100,360 to $207,340
Bars: Salary.com base salary, 25th to 75th percentile, United States, as of October 1, 2026. Rings: Built In average total compensation (base plus additional cash, self-reported), reviewed October 7, 2026. Sales managers: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, annual wage at the 25th and 75th percentiles (SOC 11-2022), all industries; BLS wages include commission. Public aggregates, not ZaphyrRecruit placement data.
A sales manager leads a team of account executives. The work is coaching through call reviews and one-on-ones, inspecting and unblocking deals, keeping the pipeline honest, calling the weekly forecast and hiring and onboarding reps. The measure is the team’s number, spread across the team, rather than the manager’s own closing. Good sales managers make the middle of the team better, which is where most of the upside sits.
Salary.com puts a sales manager at $114,937 to $144,893 base, with a median of $126,565 (October 2026). Built In’s self-reported figures show a $92,500 median base and $167,231 average total once the variable is included. The BLS band for sales managers, which includes commission, runs from $100,360 to $207,340. Team size, deal size and the variable plan move the number most.
Sometimes, but it is the most common way to lose a strong rep and gain a weak manager. Selling and coaching are different skills. Before promoting, check whether the rep already helps others, enjoys it, and can explain why they win rather than just winning. If not, keep them selling with a bigger patch, and hire a manager who has coached a team before.
Many B2B teams run six to eight account executives per manager. Fewer than four rarely justifies a full-time manager; more than ten leaves little time for coaching and deal reviews. Enterprise teams with long, complex deals often sit at the lower end, transactional teams at the higher end. The brief should say how many reps the seat inherits and how many it will hire.
We look at team results by quarter rather than personal records, ask for reps they coached up and call those reps, check forecast accuracy with a former leader, and run a deal review exercise to see how they inspect opportunities. Every candidate is scored against the five criteria on this page, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included.
Most plans pair a base salary with a variable tied to the team’s attainment, often paid quarterly, sometimes with accelerators above target. Paying the manager on the team’s number rather than personal deals keeps them coaching instead of closing. Built In’s self-reported data shows variable pay averaging $61,972, so the variable is a large share of the package.
Ten working days from a signed brief to a shortlist of three to five calibrated candidates, each with our deal review exercise scored and team results checked with a former leader. Interview speed decides the rest: good sales managers rarely run one process at a time, so a decision within two weeks of the first interview keeps them. Most need four weeks or more to start.
Tell us how many reps the seat inherits, the deal size and the number. We come back within one business day with how we would run the search and what the seat pays.
We build shortlists from people doing this work now, often before a seat is advertised. Set up a job alert for sales roles, or send your CV and we will come to you when a seat opens.
The sales manager is one of eleven seats in this function. If the gap sits elsewhere, start there.