What a new sales manager does in the first week
In the first week, collect facts and change nothing. Listen to real calls and ask each seller where deals stall. Follow three live deals and agree with the owner what should be true on day 30 and day 90.
Collect facts before you change anything
You will see things to fix on day two. Write them down and leave them. In week one you cannot yet tell which rule protects a deal and which only protects a habit. From the outside they look the same.
Listen to at least two real calls from two different sellers before you give any feedback. Ask each seller where their deals stall and write the answer word for word. Keep one page per person.
Read the CRM too, as a record of habits: which fields sellers fill in, which they skip. Then write down what it cannot tell you.
Follow three live deals
Pick three open deals from different sellers: one that is moving, one that has stalled and one nobody can explain. Open each with the seller and read it from the first message. Ask what happened next. Fix nothing yet.
Before you open the deal, tell the seller why you are there: you are learning how the work runs, and nobody is judging the deal today. People then show you the messy parts too.
For each deal, note what should be true by now, what is true today and the one step that would move it. Three real deals show you how sellers talk to customers and what the CRM does not record.
Agree two goals with the owner
Book 45 minutes with the owner during the first week. Ask why they hired you and what they tried before, and find out what is off limits. Then agree one goal for day 30 and one for day 90, a sentence each, in the owner’s words.
Read both back and ask: “If this is true on day 90, will you say it was a good quarter?” Send the two goals in a short note the same day. The free First-week talk with the owner has 15 questions for this conversation.
Keep one meeting and write everything down
If the team has a weekly meeting, keep it and watch how it runs. If there is none, start one: 30 minutes, the same day and time, ending with names and dates. Add nothing else this week. A management rhythm grows one item at a time.
Say as much to the team at that first meeting: this week you are learning, and you will propose changes after you have talked to the owner. It takes a minute, and people keep telling you what is going on.
Keep one sheet for the week: one row per live deal, what should be true, what is true now and the next step. In week three you will want to know what you saw in week one.
An example with invented numbers
Example (invented numbers): a new head of sales joins a team of five and spends Monday and Tuesday on eight calls and five pages of notes. By Wednesday her list of things to fix has eleven items. She puts it aside, follows three deals on Thursday and meets the owner on Friday. The goal for day 30: every open deal has a next step with a date. For day 90: the team keeps a two-hour reply standard without her checking it each morning.
Do this week
Today, book 45 minutes with the owner before Friday and pick the three live deals you will follow with their sellers.
15 questions for your first conversation with the owner, plus goals for day 30 and day 90.