Our top-performing salesperson wants to be promoted to our empty Sales Director seat on the Accountability Chart, but they have never managed people before. How do we run a GWC check on this transition without risking our top source of revenue?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Promoting your best salesperson to Sales Director is a common trap that often results in losing your best revenue generator and gaining a mediocre manager. The skills required to sell are entirely different from the skills required to lead, manage, and hold people accountable. Before making this move, you must run a rigorous GWC check specifically for the Sales Director seat. Do not look at their past sales performance. Instead, look at the five roles of the new seat, which must include LMA (Leading, Managing, and Accountability). Ask yourself if they truly get, want, and have the capacity to spend their days coaching, running Level 10 Meetings, managing pipelines, and holding others accountable rather than closing deals themselves. If they lack the capacity or interest in LMA, they do not GWC the seat. You must keep them in the salesperson seat and find an alternative way to reward their performance, such as a senior title or higher commission. If you decide to move them into the Sales Director seat anyway, you must have a clear backup plan on your Accountability Chart to backfill their sales volume immediately, or you risk crippling your revenue.