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Head of Sales: role profile, KPIs and interview questions

Find Head of Sales responsibilities, key performance indicators (KPIs), interview questions and an onboarding plan. Use them to agree team outcomes and assess a candidate’s management experience.

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  1. Take the profile below or build your own with the builder.
  2. In PapaHR the profile turns into a job ad, an onboarding plan and probation goals.
  3. After 90 days, review the person against the same KPIs and competencies.

Job profile

Why the role exists

Lead the team to meet collected sales and gross profit targets.

Result in a year

The team meets agreed sales and gross profit targets, flags revenue risks early and delivers without the owner constantly stepping into deals.

Place in the structure

  1. Reports toBusiness owner or Commercial Director
  2. Direct reportsSales representatives and, where applicable, sales team leaders
  3. Works withOwner — targets, resources and discount limits, Marketing — lead quality and demand for new leads, Accountant — payments, cost of sales and overdue balances, Operations manager — delivery capacity and timelines, Human resources — hiring, onboarding and sales development
Key result areas
  1. Sales — customer payments arrive as planned — Collected sales target attainmentAt least 100% of the agreed period target
  2. Profit — discounts protect the company’s earnings — Gross profit target attainmentAt least 100% of the agreed period target
  3. Pipeline — qualified leads become first payments — Lead-to-first-payment conversionAt least the agreed conversion rate
  4. Customer base — the team wins new paying customers — New paying customer target attainmentAt least 100% of the agreed period target
  5. Forecast — the owner sees expected payments and risks early — Sales forecast errorWithin the agreed forecast error limit
  6. Team — results come from multiple salespeople — Share of salespeople meeting targetAt least the agreed share of salespeople meeting target
Requirements

Experience: Experience managing salespeople, team targets and sales coaching.

Formal: Available for [working arrangement]; able to negotiate in [language].

Should know

  • Sales stages and signs of customer buying readiness.
  • Gross profit calculations and the impact of discounts.
  • Pipeline metrics and reasons for losses at each stage.
  • Sales planning that accounts for the sales cycle.
  • Sales recruitment, coaching and incentive methods.

Should be able to

  • Turn team targets into individual actions.
  • Forecast payments using confirmed customer commitments.
  • Find causes of variances in CRM software and spreadsheets.
  • Give feedback on specific sales behaviours.
  • Protect profit when negotiating prices and terms.
Competencies at three levels

Sales planning

Links revenue goals to customers, timelines and team capacity.

  1. Breaks the team target down by salesperson and week.basic
  2. Tests feasibility against pipeline, seasonality and team workload.solid
  3. Builds sales scenarios and adjusts actions before cash shortfalls emerge.strong

Pipeline and forecast management

Identifies real opportunities and addresses lost sales before month-end.

  1. Checks deal stages, next steps and payment dates.basic
  2. Finds losses by source and salesperson; checks causes against specific deals.solid
  3. Tests improvements on comparable customer groups and reduces forecast error.strong

Sales coaching

Makes results sustainable without the manager constantly rescuing deals.

  1. Reviews a sales call and suggests a specific improvement.basic
  2. Practises a skill and checks its use in subsequent calls.solid
  3. Develops mentors and increases the team’s independence.strong

Deal profitability

Supports target attainment without discounts that wipe out profit.

  1. Calculates deal gross profit before approving a discount.basic
  2. Offers alternative terms and links concessions to customer commitments.solid
  3. Changes discount rules and sales mix using profit data.strong

Team performance management

Spots underperformance and secures action without daily pressure on salespeople.

  1. Agrees outcomes, deadlines and check-ins with each salesperson.basic
  2. Distinguishes skill, lead and effort gaps; chooses an appropriate action.solid
  3. Builds team accountability and makes staffing decisions using verified results.strong

Coordination across teams

Prevents salespeople from making promises the company cannot deliver.

  1. Checks delivery timelines before making customer commitments.basic
  2. Agrees qualified lead criteria and reviews disputed cases with marketing.solid
  3. Removes recurring handover failures across sales, operations and customer service.strong
Builder

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Tick what this person does at your company. On the right is the ready profile: copy it or open it in PapaHR.

Head of Sales

Lead the team to meet collected sales and gross profit targets.

Duties
  1. Agree sales and gross profit targets with the owner.
  2. Allocate targets and leads based on each salesperson’s workload.
  3. Configure customer relationship management (CRM) software and pipeline stages.
  4. Update payment forecasts weekly and explain variances.
  5. Review lost customers and address reasons deals fall through.
  6. Coach salespeople using call recordings and real deals.
  7. Hire salespeople and assess readiness to work independently.
  8. Support complex negotiations and approve discount exceptions.
  9. Agree lead quality and volume needs with marketing.
  10. Track payments and hand customer commitments over to operations.
  11. Launch sales of new products or in new markets.
  12. Develop a partner channel for customer acquisition.
  13. Build a dedicated outbound prospecting team.
  14. Manage key accounts under a separate agreement.
  15. Design sales incentives with the owner.
  16. Help prepare complex tender submissions.
  17. Organise repeat sales with the customer service team.
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Head of Sales KPIs

  1. Collected sales target attainment — (Collected sales − refunds) / target × 100%. Mistake: Counting signed contracts before customer payments arrive.weight 30% · month
  2. Gross profit target attainment — Actual gross profit / gross profit target × 100%. Mistake: Treating revenue as profit or ignoring cost of sales and refunds.weight 25% · month
  3. Lead-to-first-payment conversion — First-paying customers / qualified leads × 100%. Mistake: Mixing leads from different months; excluding rejections or counting deals still awaiting decisions.weight 15% · month
  4. New paying customer target attainment — New first-paying customers / new paying customer target × 100%. Mistake: Counting repeat buyers as new customers or ignoring refunded first payments.weight 10% · month
  5. Sales forecast error — |Forecast collected sales − actual| / actual × 100%. Mistake: Rewriting forecasts retrospectively; when actual sales are zero, report the dollar variance.weight 10% · month
  6. Share of salespeople meeting target — Salespeople meeting target / salespeople with agreed targets × 100%. Mistake: Lowering individual targets or retrospectively excluding weaker salespeople.weight 10% · month
Calculator

Work out the KPI bonus

Enter how much of each target was met, in percent, and the bonus at 100%. You can change the weights.

KPIWeight, %Achieved, %Share
Collected sales target attainment
Gross profit target attainment
Lead-to-first-payment conversion
New paying customer target attainment
Sales forecast error
Share of salespeople meeting target
KPI total
Bonus
Sum of weights

The weights are an example. They should add up to 100%.

Interview questions

Scorecard

Run the interview and get the result

Score each answer from 1 to 5 and the total is worked out by competency. Keep this page open on your phone during the interview.

Sales planning

Describe agreeing a challenging team target. What data did you gather, what did you propose, and what was the outcome?

✓ Listen for: Pipeline calculations, team capacity, personal contribution and results against target.

⚑ Red flag: Simply divided the owner’s desired number by the number of salespeople.

Recall a quarterly target at risk. When did you notice, what actions did you change, and how did the quarter end?

✓ Listen for: Early warning signs, prioritisation and verifiable results from actions.

⚑ Red flag: Waited until the final week and demanded more sales.

Pipeline and forecast management

Describe a conversion drop. How did you find the cause, what did you change personally, and how did you measure the effect?

✓ Listen for: Comparable lead groups, deal analysis and results after the change.

⚑ Red flag: Blamed lead quality without checking calls or pipeline stages.

Recall an inaccurate sales forecast. What was wrong, how did you rebuild it, and what changed afterwards?

✓ Listen for: Recorded forecast, actual payments, cause of error and revised checks.

⚑ Red flag: Moved deal dates until the forecast matched actual results.

Sales coaching

Describe helping a salesperson improve. Which skill did you choose, how did you coach them, and what changed?

✓ Listen for: Initial behaviour review, practice and evidence of skill use in later deals.

⚑ Red flag: Ran a general training session without checking subsequent application.

Recall handing complex negotiations to a salesperson. How did you prepare them and assess their independence afterwards?

✓ Listen for: Gradual handover, specific preparation and deals completed without managerial intervention.

⚑ Red flag: Always closed deals personally because the team was weak.

Deal profitability

Describe a customer requesting a large discount. What did you calculate, what terms did you offer, and how did the deal end?

✓ Listen for: Gross profit calculation, alternatives to discounting and final terms.

⚑ Red flag: Approved the discount for revenue without checking profit.

Recall rejecting a sale because of its terms. What did you check, how did you explain your decision, and what did the business gain?

✓ Listen for: Deal economics, delivery risks and a considered decision with consequences.

⚑ Red flag: Considers all revenue beneficial regardless of costs.

Team performance management

Describe a salesperson repeatedly missing target. How did you diagnose the cause, what did you agree, and what happened next?

✓ Listen for: Workload and skill checks, specific commitments, follow-up and a final decision.

⚑ Red flag: Only threatened dismissal or repeatedly extended the improvement deadline.

Recall a team dependent on one top salesperson. What did you change, and how did the distribution of results change?

✓ Listen for: Sharing effective methods, developing others and reducing dependence on one person.

⚑ Red flag: Gave all the best leads to the top salesperson.

Coordination across teams

Describe a sales and marketing dispute over lead quality. What data did you use, what did you agree, and what resulted?

✓ Listen for: Shared qualification criteria, case reviews and checks on changes.

⚑ Red flag: Demanded more leads without discussing reasons for rejection.

Recall a broken customer promise. What did you do, what did you change with operations, and did the problem recur?

✓ Listen for: Personal accountability, restored commitments and improved order handovers.

⚑ Red flag: Believes operations alone owns the customer after payment.

Score at least one answer and the result shows up here. ·
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Test task

Action plan for an underperforming sales team · 2 hours

Analyse this fictional case; all amounts and figures are illustrative. Monthly collected sales target: $100,000; actual: $60,000. Gross profit target: $30,000; actual: $18,000. Five working days remain; a typical sale takes twenty. Salespeople A, B and C have targets of $40,000, $35,000 and $25,000, with collected sales of $32,000, $21,000 and $7,000. All 80 qualified leads received a final decision; 20 customers made their first payment; target conversion is 25%. The current pipeline has no overlapping deals: $10,000 awaiting payment on issued invoices, $20,000 awaiting contract approval, and $20,000 awaiting an initial proposal. Customers have not confirmed payment dates. Salesperson C proposes a 10% discount for everyone; cost of sales stays unchanged. Calculate target attainment and conversion, and assess the discount’s effect on profit. Prepare two payment forecast scenarios, stating assumptions and missing data. Propose actions for the remaining days and next month, with owners, deadlines and expected effects. Outline one coaching session with C. Present calculations in a spreadsheet and conclusions on one page.

How to assess it

  • Correct target attainment and conversion calculations for leads with final decisions.
  • Discount impact on gross profit shown with unchanged costs.
  • Forecast accounts for sales cycles and unconfirmed payment dates.
  • Assumptions distinguished from facts; missing data identified.
  • Actions have owners, deadlines and links to expected payments.
  • Coaching starts by checking why the salesperson is underperforming.

Ready job ad

Head of Sales at [company]

Lead [number] salespeople selling [product] to [customer segment].

What you will do

  • Meet agreed collected sales and gross profit targets.
  • Plan team activities and update payment forecasts weekly.
  • Review the pipeline, lost customers and performance gaps.
  • Hire, onboard and coach salespeople.
  • Support complex negotiations and protect profit.
  • Agree lead quality standards and order handovers with other teams.

What we need

  • Experience leading salespeople and owning team results.
  • Ability to explain decisions using team performance data.
  • Forecasting based on deals and confirmed customer actions.
  • Understanding of gross profit and discount impact.
  • Experience coaching through specific calls and deals.
  • Confident using customer relationship management software and spreadsheets.

What we offer

  • Compensation: [salary in $] plus [bonus terms].
  • Schedule: [hours]; working arrangement: [arrangement]; location: [city].
  • Team: [structure]; reporting to: [manager].
  • Authority: [hiring, lead allocation, discounts and budget].
  • Support: [marketing, training, analysis and tools].

In PapaHR this text becomes a job opening with a careers page and a candidate pipeline.

90-day onboarding plan

Before day one

  1. Send employment terms, team structure and initial meeting schedule.HR
  2. Prepare targets, sales reports, discount rules and incentive details.Manager
  3. Set up CRM, phone system and reporting access.IT

Day one

  1. Agree probation period outcomes and decision authority.Manager
  2. Introduce sales, marketing, accounting and operations colleagues.HR
  3. Learn the product, typical customers and delivery constraints.New hire

First week

  1. Meet each salesperson individually.New hire
  2. Review pipeline, call recordings and reasons for lost customers.New hire
  3. Explain costs, profit calculations and payment verification.Manager
  4. Prepare the first payment forecast and risk list.New hire

30 days

  1. Agree performance gap causes and the team improvement plan.Manager
  2. Agree individual targets and next actions with salespeople.New hire
  3. Start weekly forecasting, pipeline reviews and team coaching.New hire
  4. Agree qualified lead criteria with marketing.New hire

60 days

  1. Compare forecasts with payments and investigate variances.New hire
  2. Check each salesperson’s use of new skills.New hire
  3. Assess early conversion and gross profit changes.Manager
  4. Update recruitment and development plans to address identified gaps.New hire

90 days

  1. Present team results against agreed targets.New hire
  2. Present the next period’s forecast and resource needs.New hire
  3. Assess team independence and achievement of probation period goals.Manager

Probation period goals

  1. Make the pipeline usable for management by day 30.Every active deal has an owner, stage, amount and dated next step.
  2. Establish a verifiable payment forecast by day 60.Forecasts are recorded weekly; error stays within the limit agreed in month one.
  3. Ensure every salesperson applies a selected skill by day 90.Each person has an initial skills assessment, practice and evidence from later calls.
  4. Meet agreed sales and gross profit targets by day 90.Both reach 100% of probation period targets, allowing for the sales cycle.

Career path

Senior Sales Representative

Handles complex deals and helps colleagues learn products and negotiation.

To move up: Deliver small team results; learn coaching and work allocation.

Sales Team Leader

Owns group targets, deal reviews and sales coaching.

To move up: Develop department planning, hiring and gross profit management skills.

Head of Sales

Owns department results, forecasts, staffing and management quality.

To move up: Demonstrate management across sales channels and coordination with marketing.

Commercial Director

Owns commercial results, sales channels, marketing and pricing decisions.

To move up: Progress to broader business leadership through budget ownership and developing managers.

Questions for a 1:1 meeting

  1. Which payments expected next week are customer-confirmed, and which remain assumptions?
  2. Where is the biggest risk to target, and what help do you need from me?
  3. Which deals generate revenue but too little gross profit?
  4. Who is behind because of skill gaps, and who lacks qualified leads?
  5. What change in a salesperson’s behaviour did you verify after the last coaching session?
  6. Which decisions still wait for you, and what could you delegate?
  7. Where do sales promises exceed delivery capacity?
  8. What did comparing the latest forecast with actual payments reveal?

Mistakes in hiring and managing

  1. Promoting the best salesperson without checking management skills.
    Better: Assign colleague coaching and a group target; assess other people’s results.
  2. Judging the manager solely on team revenue.
    Better: Include gross profit, forecast quality and the spread of results across salespeople.
  3. Expecting the manager to close every important deal personally.
    Better: Agree when to intervene and check salesperson independence after support.
  4. Raising targets without checking pipeline and team capacity.
    Better: Calculate lead needs, conversion and timelines; agree resources before approving targets.
  5. Only asking about personal sales records during interviews.
    Better: Explore past decisions on people, forecasting, discounts and team results.
HR in money

What a bad hire costs: Head of Sales

The same calculation as in PapaHR «HR in money»: the cost of hiring plus the salary for the months the new hire worked at half capacity.

One leaver
A year

In the first months a new hire delivers about half the result, so the company pays the other half of the salary for learning. In PapaHR the calculation uses your real leavers.

Questions and answers

What does a Head of Sales do in a small business?

They own the sales team’s results: targets, payment forecasts, coaching and deal management. They agree resources and discount limits with the owner, and coordinate lead quality and customer commitments with other teams.

How does a Head of Sales differ from a Commercial Director?

A Head of Sales manages salespeople and delivery of department targets. A Commercial Director usually has broader responsibility for sales channels, marketing, pricing and overall commercial results. These roles can overlap in small businesses, so define responsibilities upfront.

Should a Head of Sales sell personally?

They may handle selected key deals and support complex negotiations. Agree how much time goes to personal selling and when they should intervene, leaving time for team management. If results depend entirely on their own sales, review coaching and salesperson independence.

Which KPIs should a Head of Sales have?

Start with collected sales and gross profit target attainment. Add conversion, new paying customers, forecast error and the share of salespeople meeting individual targets. Agree formulas, targets and data sources beforehand; lower forecast error is better.

How do you assess a Head of Sales in the first 90 days?

Check for a clear payment forecast, regular coaching and specific action on stalled deals. Compare sales and gross profit with targets agreed around the sales cycle. Also assess whether the team works without constant managerial intervention.

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