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Role · Sales leadership

Sales manager

A home service sales manager hires, trains and runs a team of in-home reps, owns the team's numbers, and often still runs leads themselves.

It's a different job from closing. The work moves from the kitchen table to the Monday meeting, the ride-along and the hiring pipeline. JobNimbus's practitioner advice is to add a manager at 5-10 reps.

Hire sales managersPay & KPIs

Also called

The same job under other titles.

All trades

  • Sales Manager
  • Selling Sales Manager
  • Director of Sales
  • VP of Sales

Door-knocking teams

  • Canvassing Manager
  • Field Marketing Manager

A selling sales manager runs leads as well as the team. It suits smaller teams where the manager is also one of the stronger closers.

Trades that hire sales managers

A day in the job

A day running an in-home sales team

The calendar belongs to the team. An illustrative day:

  1. Morning meeting

    Yesterday's results by rep and lead source, today's board, one skill to work on. Short, every day.

  2. Ride-along

    Rides with a newer rep or one in a slump. Watches, doesn't take over, and debriefs in the truck.

  3. Midday

    Reviews open quotes and rehash lists. Assigns leads and decides who gets the high-value ones.

  4. Afternoon

    Interviews candidates. Keeping the bench full before peak season is part of the job, not a side task.

  5. Evening

    Runs a lead if the team is short or the plan says so. Closes out the day's numbers.

Scorecard

The sales manager scorecard

A manager's numbers are the team's numbers. Siro found top reps run +7.4% to +11.3% above their own company's median close rate and bottom reps 6.2-10.1 points below it. Closing that spread is the manager's job.

  • Personal close-rate history

    If they still run leads, or did before they moved up.

    Verified by Level

  • Pay history

    W-2s or statements, including any override or team bonus.

    Verified by Level

  • Team net sales per issued lead

    Over time and by rep, not one strong month.

    You check

  • Team demo rate and cancels

    Cancels rising under a manager can mean pressure from the top.

    You check

  • Rep retention

    How many reps they hired were still selling a year later. B2B sales teams average 35% a year turnover.

    You check

  • Hiring and ramp

    How many reps they recruited and brought up to speed, and how.

    You check

Level verifies close-rate history and pay history (commission statements or W-2s), and runs reference checks, before you meet a candidate. Everything marked “You check” is yours to ask about.

Pay models

How sales managers are paid

We haven't found reliable published data on override rates or team-commission structures in home services, so we don't quote one. These are the parts a manager's plan can be built from.

  • Base salary

    Pays for the management work: the meeting, ride-alongs, hiring, reporting.

  • Override on team sales

    A small share of the team's revenue or gross profit, so the manager wins when the reps do.

  • Personal commission

    For a selling sales manager, commission on the leads they run themselves.

  • Bonus on targets

    Paid on team targets such as net sales, cancels or retention.

Annual wage · BLS · May 2025

First-line sales supervisors at specialty trade contractors

SOC 41-1012 · NAICS 238

10th $48,37090th $154,120

Median $89,430

BLS, May 2025. W-2 only. Across all industries the same group earns a median $87,520.

Work it through

How it compares

Sales manager vs your top closer vs the owner who still sells

Three ways a team gets run. Each works best at a different size.
Compared onSales managerYour top closerOwner who still sells
Measured onThe team's numbersTheir own numbersEverything
Time at the kitchen tableSome, on ride-alongs or as a selling managerMost of the dayToo much, once the business is growing
Main skillHiring, coaching, running the meetingClosingKnowing the business
RiskHiring a closer who can't coachLosing your strongest seller to a deskBecoming the bottleneck on growth

Still running your top leads yourself? See hiring for owner-operators.

Our view

When to add a sales manager

A good manager makes every rep on the team more productive, which is where the money is. Here's when we'd add one, and what we'd hire for.

  • When the team outgrows you

    Usually somewhere around 5-10 reps, or as soon as you're spending more time managing reps than running the business.

  • Start with a selling manager

    Your first sales manager is often a selling manager who still runs some leads. It keeps revenue coming in while the team grows.

  • Hire the coach

    Look for coaching ability and a track record of building reps, not just personal sales. The question is how many reps they made better.

Our judgment from headhunting for this role.

How Level vets

What we verify on sales managers.

  1. 01

    Their own close-rate history, from the years they ran leads or from the leads they still run.

  2. 02

    Pay history from W-2s or statements, so the base, overrides and bonuses they describe are on paper.

  3. 03

    Reference checks. We confirm the history and track record a candidate gives us with their references, before you meet them.

Team results are harder to document, so ask for them directly and check them in the interview. The tips below help.

How it worksInterview tips

Yours to run

  • The interview
  • A ride-along
  • A role-play

Level doesn’t run these. The tips further down are what we’d look for.

Candidate pools

Where good sales managers come from

You want someone who has built a team, not only sold on one.

  • Senior closers who've trained others

    Look for reps who already ran ride-alongs or onboarded new hires, and check how those hires did.

  • Managers at larger brands

    They know a system and a meeting rhythm. Check they can work without a big marketing budget behind them.

  • Our read

    Leaders at acquired companies

    Private-equity add-ons made up 41.3% of HVAC services deal volume in July 2026. Roles change after a deal, and some experienced managers come loose.

  • Your own team

    Promote from within when the rep can coach, not only close.

“Our read” marks our own judgment from the market, not sourced data.

Level starts where the track records are. The best reps are usually employed and doing well, so they aren’t scrolling job boards. We headhunt top performers at the strongest companies in your trade and market, and show them why your seat is a better move. The other pools are worth knowing if you’re hiring yourself.

Interview tips

Interviewing a sales manager

We verify their own close-rate and pay history and check their references. The team they built is what you need to see for yourself.
  1. 01

    Ask for a team they built

    Names, start dates, who's still selling. People who build teams remember the reps they hired and how each one did.

  2. 02

    Have them run your meeting

    Give them last month's numbers for three reps and ask for a 15-minute sales meeting.

  3. 03

    Watch a debrief

    Have them ride with one of your reps, then debrief in front of you. Coaching shows up in the debrief, not the ride.

  4. 04

    Ask for the ramp plan

    What do a new rep's first 90 days look like under them? A good answer has stages: training and ride-alongs, then warmer leads with a review after every appointment, then a full calendar measured against agreed targets.

This is our advice for your own hiring process. Level doesn’t run interviews, ride-alongs or role-plays.

A real track record, or a good interview?

Salespeople are good at interviews. It’s part of the job. Here’s how we’d tell the difference in your seat.

Specifics, not adjectives

A real team builder talks about people and numbers: who they hired and when, how fast each rep got up to speed, and who's still selling. Someone who mainly interviews well talks about their own sales and their leadership style.

Listen for

  • Whether they talk about their reps' results or only their own.
  • How they'd debrief a ride-along with a new rep.
  • What they'd do with a strong rep in a slump.

Red flags

  • They can't name the reps they hired or say where those reps are now.
  • Team results quoted with no time period or lead source.
  • Pay that doesn't line up with the overrides and bonuses they describe. We check pay history for you before you meet them.
  • Cancels that rose on their watch, brushed off.
  • Four jobs in two years, with a story for each one that blames the company.

When a candidate quotes a close rate

Close rate has no agreed definition in home improvement (No standard, per Pro Remodeler), so the same number can mean very different things. Five questions make it comparable:

  1. 01Closed out of what: leads issued, appointments run, or demos given?
  2. 02What kind of leads: tech-generated, marketed, self-generated or storm?
  3. 03Over what period, and how many appointments is that?
  4. 04What was the cancel rate on those sales?
  5. 05What was the average ticket?

Job description

Sales Manager job description, short version.

A starting point for your posting. Edit the lead sources, territory and pay plan to match your seat.

Sales Manager

We're hiring a sales manager to lead our in-home sales team: hire and train reps, run the daily meeting and ride-alongs, own the team's numbers and run leads when it counts.

What you’ll do

  • Recruit, onboard and train in-home sales reps
  • Run the daily sales meeting and regular ride-alongs
  • Assign leads and manage rehash and follow-up lists
  • Own team close rate, net sales per lead, cancels and retention
  • Run leads personally when the team or plan calls for it
  • Report results by rep and lead source to the owner

What we’re looking for

  • In-home sales experience with a close-rate and pay history you can show
  • Experience hiring, coaching or leading reps
  • Comfortable with a CRM and weekly reporting
  • Valid driver's license
Full Home Services Sales Manager job description template

FAQ

Questions about hiring sales managers.

  • When should a home service company hire a sales manager?

    Practitioner advice in the JobNimbus report is to add one at 5-10 reps. Most roofing sales teams have 4 or fewer reps, so many owners still manage the team themselves.

  • How much do home service sales managers make?

    BLS puts the median for first-line sales supervisors at specialty trade contractors at $89,430, with a 90th percentile of $154,120. BLS counts W-2 pay only. See home services sales manager pay.

  • Should I promote my top closer to sales manager?

    Only if they can coach. Closing and managing are different jobs, and promoting a strong seller who can't coach costs you their sales and a weak manager at once. Watch them debrief a ride-along before you decide.

  • What's a selling sales manager?

    A manager who runs leads as well as the team. It suits smaller teams, and the pay plan can mix personal commission with something tied to team results.

  • How does Level check a sales manager?

    We verify their own close-rate history and their pay history from W-2s or statements, and run reference checks on their track record. Team results are harder to document, so still dig into them in your interview.

Hire a sales manager who makes every rep better.

Tell us the seat. We headhunt proven closers who already sell in your trade and check their close rate, pay history and references before you meet them. You pay only when you hire.

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