Should All Sales Management Candidates be Great Salespeople?

“Your sales managers should be at least as good as your best sales rep,” thus said the corporate sales recruiter at regional conference I attended back in the mid 90’s.

Sounds reasonable, right?

But what I’ve always wondered is: if your sales manager were as good as your best sales rep, wouldn't you want them out there selling? Personally, I’ve never worked for a sales manager that I couldn’t sell under the table, but conversely, I’m a terrible sales manager.

I recently participated in a series of interviews with one of my clients for their Vice President of Sales position when this subject came up. Having wrapped up an interview with a candidate that exhibited strong sales management skills, the question came up about his personal track record in sales. This individual had been in sales management for a while, jumped back into a selling role a couple years back, and was now wanting to get back into the management game. “I’ve been able to earn a good living as a salesperson, but I feel being in a leadership role suits my personality best,” he explained. “I want to build and lead a team; be a resource and a mentor.”

“I like the guy, but if he’s going to be coaching and training our sales people, shouldn’t he be an exceptional salesperson?” one of the partners asked.

When hiring sales managers, we tend want it all: the ability to coach, mentor and inspire while at the same time having a firm grasp on the “numbers”, stuff like revenue, margin, units sold, sales calls, time to close, etc. But above all else, we want someone that knows how to sell stuff.

But what makes a good sales manager, really? And how do we go about finding these incredibly well-rounded candidates? Do we merely comb the ranks of the top salespeople and convince them to take a pay cut, all the while increasing their responsibilities ten fold? Or do we place less emphasis on their individual selling skills and more on their leadership abilities, management philosophy, and overall understanding of our respective industry? I’ve wanted to perform a litmus test on this “sales managers must be great sales people” attitude for a while now.

With the NBA season in full swing, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the backgrounds of the best basketball coaches in NBA history and compare them to the coaching records of the greatest basketball players in history. So here we go:

The top 5 coaches in NBA history are:

1) Red Auerbach
As a coach:  9 NBA championships, 938 regular season victories, perfected “fast break” basketball, outstanding recruiter and personnel manager. Began coaching at age 24.

As a player: standout college player at George Washington University. Did not play professionally.

2) Phil Jackson
As a coach: 9 NBA Championships, 900+ regular season victories (and counting), highest regular season winning percentage (.700), his teams have never missed the postseason.

As a player: played Division II college basketball at North Dakota, played 12 seasons in the NBA primarily as a reserve, won the ’73 NBA Championship with the Knicks, career averages of 6.7 points and 4.3 rebounds, led the ’75 NBA season in personal fouls.

3) Lenny Wilkins
As a coach: 1 NBA Championship, most coaching victories with 1,332, 20 postseason appearances, 32 seasons as head coach, .536 regular season winning percentage

As a player: 2-time All American at Providence College, 15 seasons in the NBA, career averages of 16.5 point and 6.7 assists, 2^nd in MVP balloting in ’68, only one of 3 players to be inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame as both player and a coach.

4) Pat Riley
As a coach: 5 NBA Championships, 1100+ regular season victories (and counting), 21 postseason appearances, .606 postseason winning record.

As a player:  player both football and basketball for the University of Kentucky, member of the ’66 NCAA championship team, 9 seasons in the NBA, career averages of 7.4 points and 1.4 rebounds, perennial bench player.

5) Chuck Daly
As a coach: 2 NBA Championships, 12 postseason appearances, 638 regular season victories, back-to-back championships with the Detroit Pistons

            As a player: played college basketball at St. Bonaventure and Bloomsburg University. Did not play professionally. 

 Now, let’s take a look at 5 of the best players in NBA history that have also had forays as head coaches:

Wilt Chamberlain
As a player: 2 NBA Championships, 4-time NBA MVP, 1 NBA Finals MVP, 13-time All Star, 10 All-NBA First and Second Teams, only player to ever average over 50 points a game, holds NBA single-game scoring record with 100 points

            As a coach: 1 season with the ’74 San Diego Conquistadors of the ABA, .440 wining percentage

Bill Russell
As a player: 5-time NBA MVP, 12-time All-Star, member of 11 NBA Championship teams (3 as player-coach), one of the best defensive players in history, won 2 NCAA Championships with University of San Francisco, captain of the gold medal winning ’56 US Olympics team

As a coach: 5 seasons as head coach, lackluster coaching career, .540 regular season winning percentage

Larry Bird
As a player: 5^th highest scorer in NCAA history, career average of 30.3 points per game, won the College Player of the Year, Naismith and Wooden Awards (given to the year’s top male college basketball player), NBA Rookie of the Year, 3 NBA Championships, 3-time NBA MVP, 9-time all NBA First Team, 2-time Finals MVP, member of the gold medal winning ’92 US Olympics team

As a coach: 3 season as coach of the Indiana Pacers, .687 winning percentage, ’98 NBA Coach of the Year

Earvin “Magic” Johnson
As a player: member of the ’79 NCAA Champion Michigan State University, 5 NBA Championships, 3-time NBA MVP and Finals MVP, 12-time All Star, 10 All-NBA First and Second Teams, led the league in assists 4 times, member of the gold medal winning ’92 US Olympics team

As a coach: coached 16 games with the ’94 Los Angeles Lakers with a .313 winning percentage before announcing his resignation

Isiah Thomas
As a player: NCAA First-Team All American, member of the ’81 NCAA Champion Indiana Hoosiers, 12-time NBA All Star, 2-time All Star MVP, 2 NBA Championships, NBA Finals MVP

As a coach: 5 seasons (to date) with Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks, .472 winning percentage, teams have either missed the postseason or been eliminated in the 1^st round of the playoffs

So what gives? Why have the greatest players in history overwhelmingly failed to deliver as NBA head coaches?

From my perspective, in order to achieve true greatness in any sport as an athlete you must be innately blessed, not just with talent, but an incredible work ethic and level of motivation. It’s virtually impossible to become the best without those three elements at work. And while coaches and mentors can play a role, the bottom line is the top athletes have significantly more natural ability that their peers, particularly at the professional level. Sure, you would never rank Larry Bird as one of the most physically talented players of all time, but he most definitely made up for it with tremendous hand-eye coordination and special awareness – traits he was born with.

I firmly believe that these athletically gifted individuals have trouble relating with less talented players, particularly when they're playing the role of coach. They have trouble understanding why their players struggle with certain plays and body movements that come so naturally to them. They become frustrated with athletes that lack motivation, enthusiasm, or maturity. They are action-oriented personalities and not always good verbal communicators.   

In response to the partner’s question about our candidate’s selling ability, the president said, “Listen, I know the personalities of our top sales people and honestly, I don’t want someone like them. They need a true coach, someone with great communication skills. Personally, I need someone who can bridge the gap between us and them—what I don’t need is another salesperson.”

So when interviewing sales management candidates, look for those individuals that describe success stories that highlight team involvement and wins for the company. Its okay if money is one of their top five motivators, but it should never be be number one. Drill down on their background to try and understand their business acumen and industry knowledge. And above all else, don’t allow yourself to be won over by a smooth talking sales presentation, because don't forget: that’s what super salespeople do best.