Sales superstars are challenging to find and keep.  He is often quirky, confrontational, and prone to break a rule or two along the way to crushing his number.  The sales superstar is a fierce competitor. He is respected by peers but feared by the competition.  He is who you want on that big deal.  He is who you need on that big deal.  He is a domain expert in the products or services he represents.  He commands respect from customers and prospects and drives value into every interaction.  This series of finely tuned skills are difficult to teach, difficult to learn and even more difficult to master.

Moving this person to a management position where he can mentor less experienced employees up to the level of superstardom certainly appears to be sound thinking.  It looks great on paper.  The problem is what makes a sales superstar is not what makes a superstar manager.  Certainly, the very best of the best sales leaders have made the transition from superstar sales person to superstar manager.  However, not every sales superstar will make the transition.

Divergent Success Criteria

Making this transition to superstar manager is difficult for many.  The spotlight is now on the sales superstars in training.  The skills, techniques, knowledge, and execution that brought the sales superstar to the management ranks just became much less important.  New new skills are now needed.  Careful consideration should be taken before offering a management position to a sales superstar.  Does this person have the ability demeanor to make the transition?  An open honest discussion about the above topics is warranted to set expectations and provide a forum for a thoughtful mutual assessment.

The absolute worst outcome is to promote a sales superstar to sales manager, provide them no context, no training, and no clear success criteria.  The consequence of this action is the loss of a superstar and two open head count.