IBM Sales Manager Interview Guide

- **MEDDPICC**: Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Paper Process, Identify Pain, Champion, Competition — for qualifying and inspecting complex deals - **Situational Leadership**: Adjust coaching style (directing, coaching, supporting, delegating) based on each rep's competence and commitment level - **Challenger Sale**: Coach reps to teach customers new perspectives, tailor messaging to stakeholders, and take control of the sales conversation - **Pipeline Math**: Work backwards from revenue target → required pipeline → required opportunities → required activities to set team activity benchmarks - **GROW Coaching Model**: Goal → Reality → Options → Way Forward for structuring effective 1-on-1 coaching conversations

- Spending too much time closing deals yourself instead of developing your team's selling capabilities - Not having a structured onboarding program, leading to long ramp times and early attrition - Relying solely on lagging indicators (closed revenue) instead of tracking leading indicators (activity, pipeline creation) - Avoiding difficult performance conversations until it is too late to course-correct - Failing to build relationships with cross-functional partners (marketing, product, customer success) who influence team results

- What does the current team structure look like and what's the tenure of the team? - What are the biggest challenges the sales team is facing right now? - How is the team currently performing against quota? - What does success look like for this role in the first 90 days? - How much autonomy do sales managers have in territory and compensation decisions? - What support does the sales team receive from marketing and sales development?

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