6 Essential Sales Manager Skills for Crushing Quota and Driving Revenue

A good sales leader can make all the difference in moving the needle and driving organizational revenue. According to McKinsey, half of a company's total value creation rests on the shoulders of its sales teams.

Whether you are a sales-driven company trying to hire stellar leadership or an aspiring SDR with your sights set on a job promotion, it's important to understand how effective sales leaders grow the business and drive their teams to success, quarter after quarter.

Powered by insights from some of Apollo's top sales managers, this blog will highlight the must-have skills of a 21st-century sales manager.

The day-to-day of a sales manager

Sales managers oversee a company's entire sales process. They are responsible for the individual and collective success of sales development reps, account managers, and other sales professionals on their team.

On a day-to-day basis, sales managers juggle a wide range of tasks. Some days, it's interviewing sales candidates and recruitment sourcing, other days it's reviewing sales reports and analyzing performance.

Their core duties include:

• Setting sales goals and objectives
• Creating sales plans and executing strategy
• Coaching sales reps
• Running day-to-day sales operations (e.g. troubleshooting, closing, objection handling)
• Analyzing reports on sales performance
• And even hiring and recruiting

Think of the sales manager as the Swiss army knife of sales – balancing the role of player, cheerleader, and coach while driving both their team and company to success.

Move business forward with these 6 essential sales manager skills

So, what are the tangible skills that sales managers need to accomplish these tasks and lead a world-class sales team? Here's what the Apollo experts have to say:

#1: Communication

Most company-wide decisions directly affect sales teams. Which is why sales managers must be able to clearly and effectively communicate new plans and selling strategies.

For Isabela Rivera, one of Apollo's top-performing sales managers, communication is the cornerstone of her management style, "It is really important that I'm able to communicate to my team why we are doing things, how it affects us, and of course, providing talking tracks to make these changes as smooth as possible."

The more understanding a team has of its strategy, the better and faster sales managers can get the sales organization where it needs to go.

If you're looking to improve your communication skills, start by finding ways to streamline contact with your team, create opportunities to listen to their needs, and make it a priority to be clear and transparent.

#2: Coaching

The best sales managers coach their reps to success and provide them with opportunities to grow and improve. In fact, high-performing companies are twice as likely to offer personalized training and coaching opportunities for their sales reps.

Erik Arellano, Apollo Sr. Sales Manager says managing and coaching go hand-in-hand, "It's not good enough to simply identify where the team or individual reps are over or underperforming," he says, "Sales managers need to dig deeper, ask the right questions, and point out areas that can help elevate the team."

Get inspired to coach and elevate sales teams with these seven tactics for increasing sales productivity.

#3: Ability to think both short and long term

Next, it's important that leaders can balance short-term thinking with long-term vision.

One of our high-performing Apollo sales managers, Paula Urrutia, believes that a strong daily sales cadence should always be paired with a holistic sales strategy.

"You need those transactional, quick deals you can get week after week, but make sure you are also working closely with your reps to review the larger deal they have in their pipeline and ensure you are creating a strategy to get those across the line," she says.

And she's right! – It's exciting to get short-term wins, but the most successful sales organizations are always looking ahead, creating roadmaps for achieving high customer retention and long-term revenue.

#4: Data analysis

Isabela knows that what you do with your data is everything. "Analyzing data and having a good stack of dashboards, reports, and tracking documents is one of the most important skills sales managers need to hit quota," she says.

When you understand and leverage the insights from metrics like conversion rate, average contract value, pipeline hygiene, and annualized ARR, you're able to better understand where to spend more time with the team and what specific activities aren't moving the needle.

Speaking of great dashboards! – With an Apollo account, sales managers can access custom and pre-made dashboards full of actionable reports on SDR performance, email and call metrics, sales sequence effectiveness, and more.

#5: Problem-solving

It's a sales manager's job to make the sales process as smooth as possible by removing obstacles and solving problems (for both sellers and buyers) in order to shorten the sales cycle.

In Isabela's opinion, problem-solving is the most important skill of a sales manager. "My motto is to make my team's life easier by solving their everyday problems as soon as possible with a very strict SLA," she says.

Sales managers who are savvy problem solvers know how to ask the right questions to uncover core problems, listen to the needs of both team members and prospects, and create fair compromises.

#6: Knowledge of CRM and sales engagement systems

Customer relationship management (CRM) software helps organizations manage interactions with their prospects and clients. They are the cornerstone of sales teams – a recent survey found that sales leaders rank their CRMs as their most important tool.

Effective sales managers know their CRMs from the inside out. They can navigate the tool to identify new sales opportunities, re-engage prospects, identify key trends, and track sales activity.

Sales engagement platforms like Apollo are especially great because they give sales managers all the tools they need to engage with prospects and automate entire sales workflows – all while syncing to their CRMs.

Read more here on how the Apollo platform helps entire teams of sellers hit quota and save more time.

4 additional skills that separate great sales managers from good ones

The skills above are the table stakes. But what separates the good from the truly great? It's the ability to go beyond the day-to-day and build a sustainable engine for growth. Here are four more skills that top-tier sales managers master.

Performance management and accountability

This isn't just about tracking KPIs. It's about setting crystal-clear expectations and using data to drive productive performance conversations. Great managers create a culture where every rep owns their number because they understand how their work contributes to the bigger picture.

Hiring and recruiting top talent

A manager is only as good as their team. The best leaders are always recruiting, know exactly what a winning profile looks like, and can sell the company vision to attract A-players. They build the team they need for tomorrow, not just the one that fills today's headcount.

Sales planning and strategic thinking

This is the ability to see the entire chessboard. It's about designing territory plans, identifying untapped market opportunities, and aligning sales efforts with overarching company goals. It's the difference between reacting to the quarter and architecting it from the start.

Technical proficiency beyond CRM

The modern sales stack is more than just a CRM. Great managers understand how tools like Apollo work together to create massive efficiency gains. They don't just use the tech; they optimize it to give their team an unfair advantage in the market.

Master these skills to become an unstoppable sales leader

Becoming a top-tier sales manager is a journey, not a destination. It's a powerful blend of coaching, strategy, data analysis, and team building. Mastering these skills won't just help you and your team crush quota; it will build careers and drive sustainable revenue growth for your entire organization.

The right skills are crucial, but so is the right platform. Apollo gives sales managers the data, automation, and insights they need to put these skills into action and build a world-class sales organization. Ready to see how? Get Started

Frequently asked questions about sales manager skills

What's the difference between sales rep skills and sales manager skills?

Sales reps focus on individual execution—closing their own deals. Sales managers focus on multiplication—enabling their entire team to succeed. It's a shift from 'I do' to 'we do,' prioritizing coaching, strategy, and removing obstacles over personal sales performance.

How long does it take to develop strong sales management abilities?

There's no set timeline, as it's a continuous process. Most new managers start feeling comfortable after 6-12 months of active practice and coaching. However, the best managers are always learning and adapting their skills to new challenges and market changes.

What's the biggest mistake new sales managers make?

The most common mistake is trying to be a 'super-rep' instead of a manager. They often jump in to 'save' deals themselves rather than coaching their reps on how to do it. This approach doesn't scale and ultimately hinders the team's development and confidence.

Should sales managers still be closing deals themselves?

Generally, no. A sales manager's primary role is to lead and develop the team. While they should be involved in strategic deals to provide guidance and support, their hands shouldn't be on the keyboard closing the deal. Their leverage comes from making every rep on their team better, not from their individual contribution to the quota.