How to Test Whether a Sales Manager Can Coach

Candidate Assessment
Written by Ashley Wesley

The best way to test whether a sales manager candidate can coach is to watch them do it: give them a short recording or written account of a real sales call and ask them to coach the rep, then check what their former reps say. Asking "are you a good coach?" tells you almost nothing, and a strong personal sales record tells you even less.

Why is coaching so hard to spot in an interview?

Here's the fair part. Most sales manager candidates have coached someone. They can describe their one-on-ones, their pipeline reviews and the rep they turned around. Some of them are genuinely great at it.

The problem is that every candidate says they coach, and the interview rewards the ones who describe it well. Meanwhile the thing most owners actually look at, the candidate's own sales numbers, points in the wrong direction.

Do top salespeople make good sales managers?

Often not. Benson et al. (2019a) studied almost 40,000 sales workers across 131 firms. In their own summary of the research, they found that firms "systematically promote the best salespeople," and that these workers "end up becoming worse managers" (Benson et al., 2019b). The size of the effect is striking: "A doubling of a manager's pre-promotion sales corresponds to a 7.5% decline in manager value added" (Benson et al., 2019b).

They also found that salespeople with more experience collaborating with colleagues became better managers, but weren't more likely to be promoted (Benson et al., 2019b). The skill that predicts good management was being overlooked in favour of the one that doesn't.

That doesn't mean a great seller can't manage. It means their sales record isn't evidence that they can.

Does a manager's coaching skill actually affect sales?

Yes, and the research on how is useful for hiring. Dahling et al. (2016) followed 1,246 pharmaceutical sales reps in 136 teams over a year. Managers' coaching skill, measured in a training exercise, predicted how well their reps hit annual sales goals. Part of the effect came through role clarity: reps with skilled coaches understood their jobs better.

Here's the part that surprised us. Frequent coaching from managers with low coaching skill was linked to lower goal attainment (Dahling et al., 2016). More coaching from a weak coach made things worse.

Two lessons for hiring:

  • Skill matters more than frequency. A candidate who brags about weekly one-on-ones has told you about frequency. You still don't know about skill.
  • Skill can be observed. The study measured it in an exercise, which is the closest research we found to a hiring test.

One honest gap: we couldn't find published research that tests a coaching role play as a hiring tool for sales manager candidates specifically. The case for it rests on two things that are well supported. Coaching skill can be measured in an exercise and it predicts results (Dahling et al., 2016). And simulation-based assessment centres are "particularly effective for assessing higher-level managerial and leadership competencies" (U.S. Office of Personnel Management [OPM], n.d.), with an average validity of .29 (Sackett et al., 2022).

What should coaching look like?

Here's our view of what good sales leaders do. They listen to real calls and coach one thing at a time. They ask "what's your evidence?" before "when's it closing?" They can be corrected without getting defensive, and they reward early bad news. A pipeline review where the manager asks for close dates and leaves isn't coaching. It's inspection.

If you're also weighing whether the candidate can take coaching themselves, our post on the coachable sales candidate covers that side.

How to test a sales manager's coaching ability

  1. Run a coaching exercise. Give the candidate a short call recording, transcript or written summary from one of your own reps (with permission, or a realistic made-up one). Ask: "You have 15 minutes with this rep. Coach them." Play the rep yourself.
  2. Score what they do, not what they say. Did they ask the rep what they thought first? Pick one or two things to work on, or try to fix ten? Use specific moments from the call? Agree on a next step the rep can actually practise? Write your scoring guide before the exercise.
  3. Push back as the rep. Get defensive or disagree. Strong coaches stay curious and adjust. Weak ones repeat themselves louder or take over the deal.
  4. Ask for the rep they developed, then check it. "Tell me about a rep who improved under you. What was the skill gap, what did you do each week, and what changed?" Then ask that former rep, if the candidate can connect you. Our post on reference checks has questions that get past the polite answer.
  5. Ask former reps, not just former bosses. The people who were coached know whether it happened. "What's one thing they taught you that you still use?" A long pause is an answer.
  6. Look for collaboration, not just quota. Ask about times the candidate helped a colleague close a deal, trained a new hire or shared accounts. That was the experience linked to better managers in the research (Benson et al., 2019b).
  7. Use the same exercise and questions for every candidate. Structured interviews are the strongest single predictor of job performance in recent research, at .42 (Sackett et al., 2022), and consistency is also what the Ontario Human Rights Commission advises for fairness (Ontario Human Rights Commission [OHRC], 2008). Our structured interview guide shows how. Offer accommodation for the exercise if a candidate needs it.

Two things that are both true

We'll admit something on behalf of HR: we've helped promote plenty of top reps into management because it felt like the fair reward, and because nobody wanted to lose them. Sometimes it worked. The research says it often doesn't.

A sales manager who can't sell will struggle to earn the team's respect. And a sales manager who can only sell will struggle to build a team. For owners in Guelph and across Ontario hiring their first or next sales manager, the fix is to stop treating the candidate's quota as their résumé for a different job, and watch them coach before you hire them to do it. If you're still deciding whether you need the role at all, start with when to hire your first sales manager.

In short

To test whether a sales manager can coach, watch them coach: give them a real or realistic sales call, have them coach you playing the rep, and score them against a guide you wrote in advance. Then check with reps they've managed. A big personal sales record doesn't predict good management; firms promote their best sellers, who then become worse managers (Benson et al., 2019b). Coaching skill, measured in an exercise, did predict reps' sales goal attainment (Dahling et al., 2016).

Key takeaways

  • A doubling of a salesperson's pre-promotion sales was linked to a 7.5% decline in their value as a manager, in a study of almost 40,000 sales workers (Benson et al., 2019b).
  • Collaboration experience predicted better managers, but didn't make people more likely to be promoted (Benson et al., 2019b).
  • Managers' coaching skill predicted reps' annual sales goal attainment across 1,246 reps and 136 teams (Dahling et al., 2016).
  • Frequent coaching from low-skill coaches was linked to lower goal attainment (Dahling et al., 2016).
  • Simulation exercises suit managerial roles (OPM, n.d.); assessment centres averaged .29 validity (Sackett et al., 2022).
  • Former reps are the best reference for coaching. Ask them what they still use.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between coaching and a pipeline review?

A pipeline review checks deals: what's closing and when. Coaching builds the rep's skill: what to do differently on the next call. Good managers do both, but a manager who only reviews the pipeline isn't coaching.

Should I promote my best salesperson to sales manager?

Not because they're your best salesperson. Research on almost 40,000 sales workers found the best sellers tend to become worse managers (Benson et al., 2019b). Test their coaching and collaboration the same way you'd test an outside candidate.

How often should a sales manager coach each rep?

There's no magic number. Research found that frequent coaching helped only when the manager was skilled; frequent coaching from low-skill coaches was linked to lower results (Dahling et al., 2016). Quality first, then cadence.

Can I use a role play when interviewing a sales manager in Ontario?

Generally yes, if it's job-related, given the same way to every candidate, and you offer accommodation to anyone who needs it. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm your process with employment counsel.

Work with us

A sales leader is the expensive hire to get wrong. Our Final Candidate Review puts your finalists through the Certainty System and scores them against your own team before the offer. If it doesn't help, you don't pay.

This post is general information, not legal advice. Confirm employment decisions with employment counsel.

References

Ashley Wesley
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