Identifying and

Developing the
Sales Manager
Profile That Drives
Performance
Gartner for Sales Leaders

© 2018 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

For more information, email [email protected] or visit gartner.com. CM_508650
 Understand the four most common approaches
to employee coaching and learn how to promote
the most effective one at your organization.

2
 Contents

Executive Summary Page 4

Today’s dynamic work environment demands that managers play a much
larger role in employee development.

The Changing Work Environment Page 4

To sell complex solutions, today’s sellers must often work with and through
an increasing number of people in different functions, business units and
geographies.

The Importance of Managers in Learning and Development Page 5

While managers have always played an important role in seller development,
these dynamics mean manager coaching is increasingly critical to overall
training and education efforts.

Four Types of Managers Page 7

To understand whether some manager approaches to employee development
were more effective at facilitating high performance than others, we deployed
a survey to nearly 7,000 employees and managers in a variety of functions
across multiple industries.

The Connector Manager Page 9

Connector managers make connections at the employee, team and
organization levels to drive employee performance.

Conclusion Page 13
Given the changes in today’s work environment, it is clear that managers are
crucial to seller development and overall commercial performance.

Related Resources Page 13

Other resources related to this white paper

About This Research Page 14

This research is based on a comprehensive survey of over 7,000 employees
and managers across 18 functions and 25 industries as well as qualitative
interviews with L&D and sales leaders. This data was further analyzed at the
function level to understand its implications specifically within sales.

© 2018 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

3 For more information, email [email protected] or visit gartner.com.
 Identifying and
Developing the
Manager Profile That
Drives Performance
Gartner for Sales Leaders

Executive Summary
Today’s dynamic work environment demands that managers play a much larger role in
employee development. And while we found four distinct manager approaches, one
profile — the Connector — triples the likelihood that direct reports are high performers.
By providing targeted feedback to direct reports, connecting them to others for
coaching and development, and trying to create a positive team development
environment, Connector managers outperform their peer profiles.

The Changing Work Environment

To sell complex solutions, today’s sellers must often work with and through an increasing
number of people in different functions, business units and geographies. In doing so,
they must also use a wide variety of skill sets; sellers are expected to shift seamlessly
from project manager to business consultant to administrative expert, all over the course
of a single deal.
This dynamic, complex work environment has profoundly affected how sellers learn
and develop. Now, formal classroom training sessions are just one of many options
for teaching sellers. In fact, 66% of sellers report they expect most learning and
development to occur outside the classroom, while 58% of sellers report they develop
new skills through their colleagues.
In addition, learning and development efforts must keep pace with the dynamic nature
of the seller role, remaining flexible enough to support sellers as they shift between skill
sets. Indeed, 60% of sellers expect to learn and develop “just in time,” and 35% report the
skills they use today were learned in the past year.

© 2018 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

4 For more information, email [email protected] or visit gartner.com.
 The Importance
of Managers in
Learning and
Development
While managers have always played an important role in seller development, these
dynamics mean manager coaching is increasingly critical to overall training and
education efforts. In contrast to formal classroom training — which can feel too generic
and requires a significant chunk of time in a seller’s busy schedule — manager-led
coaching and training efforts have several qualities that make them especially attractive
in today’s learning environment:
1. M
 anagers are close enough to a seller’s work to understand development areas and
learning needs, and are thus theoretically able to tailor their coaching to the seller’s
unique situation.
2. Manager-led efforts should, in theory, provide a greater level of flexibility with regard
to timing than formal classroom training.
In short, managers seem well placed to deliver the tailored, just-in-time training required
in today’s work environment.
L&D leaders seem to agree. In fact, 72% of L&D leaders report expectations of manager
involvement in employee development have increased in the past three years. Even
while L&D budgets have shrunk by an average of 3% from 2016 to 2017, L&D leaders still
expect to increase manager development spending by 11% on average.
Sales and L&D leaders expect frontline sales managers to coach and develop their direct
reports continuously in areas ranging from specific deals or tasks to longer-term skills.
But managers are struggling with this burden. According to our research, the average
frontline sales manager has seven direct reports but devotes just 9% of his or her time to
actually developing them. More worrisome, 42% of managers simply lack the confidence
to develop the skills that employees need today.
Sellers feel the shortcomings of managers as well. Just 38% of sellers report their
manager helps them develop the skills they need for their role today, while only 34%
report their manager helps them develop the skills they need for the future. Managers
significantly influence sellers’ intent to stay (Figure 1), so between the underperformance
of direct reports and the cost of replacing sellers who leave, a single ineffective sales
manager can cost a company up to several million dollars.

© 2018 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

5 For more information, email [email protected] or visit gartner.com.
 Figure 1: Impact of Coaching on Sellers’ Engagement

Scored Coaching Effectiveness in the Top Third

Scored Coaching Effectiveness in the Bottom Third

0.80 (0.70)
(0.58) (0.57)
(0.49)

(0.26)
Difference in
“Intention to Stay
at Company” 0%
From the Mean (0.07)
(0.27)

(0.53)
(0.63) (0.60)
(0.80)

Low Low to Average Average Star

Performers Average Performaers to Star Performers
Performers Performers

n = 2,600
Source: Gartner

While it is clear that many managers are struggling to train and develop sellers in a
dynamic, complex work environment, some managers are thriving. We wanted to find
out why.

© 2018 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

6 For more information, email [email protected] or visit gartner.com.
 Four Types of
Managers
To understand whether some manager approaches to employee development were more
effective at facilitating high performance than others, we deployed a survey to nearly 7,000
employees and managers in a variety of functions across multiple industries. We asked
employees to evaluate demonstrated manager behaviors and their effectiveness across
89 variables and then used factor analysis to identify manager approaches to employee
development among their responses. From this analysis, we found four distinct manager
approaches to employee development:
1. Teacher
This type of manager develops employees using his or her experience and expertise.
Managers in this style typically drive employee coaching and development and provide
advice-oriented feedback, often sourced from past experience. Teachers comprised 20%
of sales managers in our sample.
2. Always On
This type of manager provides continuous coaching and feedback across a breadth
of skills. This style is characterized by frequent feedback and a broad focus as well as
a directive approach to employee coaching and development. Always On managers
comprised 23% of sales managers in our sample.
3. Connector
This type of manager introduces employees to the right people for their development
needs. While managers in this style provide targeted feedback, they often connect
employees to others for coaching and development and try to create a positive team
development environment. Connectors comprised 26% of sales managers in our sample.
4. Cheerleader
This type of manager enables employees to take their development into their own hands.
Managers in this style pursue a hands-off approach to development. While they provide
positive, empowering feedback to employees, they expect their direct reports to take
responsibility for their own development. Cheerleaders comprised 31% of managers in
our sample.
Based on the descriptions alone, it may seem Always On managers would be most likely
to drive high performance1 among their teams, but this is not the case. In fact, Connector
managers triple the likelihood that their direct reports are high performers, far outperforming
the other profiles (Figure 2)2.

1 We used a comprehensive measure of employee performance that accounts for individual task performance (i.e., the outcomes
an employee achieves through his or her individual tasks and assignments) as well as network performance (i.e., the outcomes an
employee achieves by using the contributions of others and by contributing to others’ performance).
2 We ran multiple linear regressions of these manager approaches on employee performance and then calculated maximum impact
scores to compare the relative effects of these approaches on employee performance.

© 2018 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

7 For more information, email [email protected] or visit gartner.com.
 Figure 2: Maximum Impact on Employee Performance by Manager Type

Improves
Employee 26%
Performance

7% 9%

(8)%

Degrades
Employee
Performance

Always On Teacher Cheerleader Connector

n = 7,309 employees
Source: Gartner

While the conclusions in Figure 2 show the impact scores for the full sample of employees
across multiple functions and industries, our analysis of a sales-only employee sample
reveals Connector managers have an even greater impact within the sales function.
While Connector managers in our whole sample — which includes employees in multiple
functions — have up to a 26% impact on performance, Connector managers in sales have
up to a 47% impact on employee performance.
So, how do Connector Managers drive high performance among their direct reports?

© 2018 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

8 For more information, email [email protected] or visit gartner.com.
 The Connector
Manager
Connector managers make connections at the employee, team and organization levels
to drive employee performance using the following principles:
1. Personalize for Employee Resonance
Connector managers take the time to understand their employees and focus on
quality, targeted development rather than quantity. The result is that Connector
managers are able to tailor development efforts to employee needs and interests,
improving employee engagement.
2. Power the Team for Peer Development
Connector managers build transparency around individual and team development
goals and encourage and recognize peer development. This transparency produces
a reciprocal and real-time development dynamic within the team, with team
members actively supporting the development of their peers. Such support ensures
that development efforts align to changes in the team’s work.
3. Partner for Best-Fit Connections
Connector managers help employees expand their networks and take on different
experiences as well as teach employees how to learn from new connections. This
effort ensures employees have a wide variety of development opportunities across a
range of skills, boosting preparedness for future career positions.

Personalize for Employee Resonance

Connector managers rely on a deep understanding of their employees to deliver
tailored coaching.
Sales managers have an overwhelming number of responsibilities, so it is perhaps
unsurprising that employee development often takes a back seat to other
responsibilities. In fact, sales managers spend just 9% of their time actually developing
their direct reports. When confronted with competing priorities, managers often default
to employee development activities that are convenient and generic rather than tailoring
them to employees’ actual development needs.
To promote tailored coaching interactions, sales organizations must first ensure
managers understand the importance of individualized coaching and then help them
prepare for coaching interactions.

© 2018 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

9 For more information, email [email protected] or visit gartner.com.
 Awareness-Building Manager Questions

10 Questions to Build Manager Awareness

1. What could our employees say about us?
2. What is our employees’ experience?
3. What do our employees think of us as managers?
4. How well do we know our employees?
5. How well do we work with our interfaces?
6. How well do we know our company?
7. What are the outcomes of our decisions?
8. As a manager, I feel…
9. What are our day-to-day tasks?
10. What is my personal footprint?

Case in Point
Building Manager Awareness
To learn more about how one software company helped managers self-discover the
importance of personalized coaching, Gartner for Sales Leaders clients can read our
case study on manager self-discovery analysis.

Still, even a strong manager commitment to tailored coaching will be insufficient

if managers don’t understand the needs of their sellers. To this end, many sales
organizations provide managers with monthly sales reports that not only enable
managers to decide where to focus their coaching efforts, but also help them
understand which coaching interventions were most effective. This data is crucial in
helping managers prepare for coaching interactions with their sellers.
Finally, sales managers should use the PAUSE coaching framework to help prepare
them for and conduct tailored coaching interactions. It guides managers through the
preparation, execution and follow-up of a coaching session, ensuring consistency
and quality.

© 2018 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

10 For more information, email [email protected] or visit gartner.com.
 Power the Team for Peer Development
Connector managers build awareness of skills across the team and facilitate
skillsharing sessions.
While individual development is crucial, many managers restrict employee development
conversations to one-on-one meetings and miss opportunities to use their teams to
develop one another. However, a team approach to development ensures managers
don’t waste time developing multiple employees in common skills and gives team
members access to a broader range of skills than an individual manager can provide.
To facilitate a team development approach, managers must ensure that team members
understand the mix of skills across the team and then create opportunities for
knowledge sharing and development.

Case in Point
Each One, Teach One
A government organization provides an example of how managers can implement
peer development through an exercise called “Each One, Teach One.” In this exercise,
team members publicly list the skills they feel comfortable teaching and other team
members can sign up for the skills offered. Outside of these formal teaching sessions,
the exercise can help to create a team culture that emphasizes coaching and skill
sharing.

Managers can actualize the principles involved in the “Each One, Teach One” exercise in
other ways. Some managers might solicit skill self-assessments from their direct reports
and use them to pair employees with complementary skill sets on new projects. Other
organizations might encourage employees to share their skills publicly. For example, one
healthcare company encourages its employees to fill out skill profiles that are shared on
an internal site so people can identify potential development or peer learning partners.

© 2018 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

11 For more information, email [email protected] or visit gartner.com.
 Partner for Best-Fit Connections
Connector managers connect their employees to people and resources across the
organization that can help them develop new skills.
With the wide range of internal communication tools available in today’s workplace, it
may seem that employees would have no difficulty in making valuable development
connections, but this isn’t the case. Many employees do not proactively reach outside of
their immediate networks for development, and in the instances in which they do, they
might still struggle to get value from the connections they make.
At a minimum, managers must encourage their teams to seek development connections
across the organization. Beyond that, many Connector managers actively use their
own networks to help their direct reports cultivate organizationwide development
connections. However, the most successful organizations set up formal coaching
marketplaces that allow employees to seek out other individuals with the skills they need
to learn. These marketplaces do not depend on the manager’s own network, and they
provide a much broader range of potential connections for manager and employee alike.
While building networks is key to developing new skills, simply making connections is
not enough on its own; managers must prepare their direct reports for development
interactions to ensure they get full value. Prior to coaching interactions with network
connections, managers should help their employees think through what the
coaching session should accomplish, what questions to ask, and how to follow up.
For example, a financial services organization equips managers with Learning Event
Interview Preparation Guides that enable them to convey the importance of the
network connection, help the employee think about what they should learn during the
experience, and set a clear timeline for applying the skills learned.
To learn more about how to equip managers to prepare their direct reports for coaching
interactions, Gartner for Sales Leaders clients can consult our case study on event-
based network learning.

© 2018 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

12 For more information, email [email protected] or visit gartner.com.
 Conclusion
Given the changes in today’s work environment, it is clear that managers are crucial to
seller development and overall commercial performance. Sales organizations should
endeavor to hire and develop managers in the Connector style and support them with
the tools, training and resources necessary to help them leverage the power of the
whole organization in developing their direct reports.

Related Resources
Additional Resources for Gartner for Sales Leaders Clients
■■  ocus Coaching on High-Impact Behaviors: Consult this white paper for help in
F
creating a comprehensive coaching strategy that ensures long-term development.
■■ I gnition Guide to Creating a Sales Coaching Program: Use this guide to diagnose
gaps in your current coaching program as well as create and communicate a new
coaching framework to the sales force.
■■  uilding a Team Climate That Drives Commercial Performance: Use this white
B
paper to understand the key components of team climate.
■■  AUSE Coaching Framework: Use this framework to help managers prepare for and
P
execute tailored coaching interactions.

© 2018 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

13 For more information, email [email protected] or visit gartner.com.
 About This Research
This research is based on a comprehensive survey of over 7,000 employees and
managers across 18 functions and 25 industries as well as qualitative interviews with L&D
and sales leaders. This data was further analyzed at the function level to understand its
implications specifically within sales.

About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT), is the world’s leading research and advisory company
and a member of the S&P 500. We equip business leaders with indispensable
insights, advice and tools to achieve their mission-critical priorities today
and build the successful organizations of tomorrow.
Our unmatched combination of expert-led, practitioner-sourced and data-driven
research steers clients toward the right decisions on the issues that matter most.
We are a trusted advisor and objective resource for more than 15,000 organizations
in more than 100 countries — across all major functions, in every industry and
enterprise size.

Contact Us
Phone: 1 866 913 8102
Email: [email protected]
Web: gartner.com/go/sales

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