Sales 101 · Book Two
The sales manager's guide to building systems, coaching teams, and leading without micromanaging.
By Christopher G. Brooks
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Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and libraries worldwide. Also available at Indigo and independent bookstores — ask your local store to order it.
Overview
Most sales managers were promoted because they could sell. The problem is that managing a sales team is not selling. It is a different job — with different skills, different instincts, and a completely different definition of success.
Sales Leadership Made Simple is written for the manager who is making that transition. For the person who used to know exactly what to do — because the answer was always "go sell more" — and now finds themselves responsible for twelve people with twelve different problems, a pipeline they did not build, and a number that depends entirely on other people's performance.
The book covers the full scope of what a sales manager actually does: how to build a pipeline that tells the truth, how to coach rather than control, how to hire people you will not regret, how to run a sales meeting that is worth attending, and how to lead a team that performs consistently rather than in streaks.
It also addresses the internal shift that promotion requires. The instincts that made you a great salesperson — taking over, handling objections yourself, stepping in when a deal is at risk — are the same instincts that will undermine your team if you do not learn to redirect them.
Audience
Sales Leadership Made Simple is written for:
Sales managers in their first 1–3 years who feel like they are still figuring it out
Experienced managers who want a systematic framework for coaching and pipeline management
Senior salespeople preparing for or considering a move into management
VPs and directors who want a resource to hand new managers
Organizations looking to build consistent management capability across a sales team
If you have ever realized that your team's number is now your number — and that realization changed how you thought about your job — this book was written for that moment.
Inside the Book
The System That Carries the Deal
Sales management is not about the best deal; it is about the system that produces deals consistently. This chapter introduces the systems mindset that separates scalable sales leadership from individual heroics.
Hope Is Not a Sales Strategy
Wishful pipeline thinking is the most common failure mode in sales management. This chapter makes the case for honest, stage-based forecasting and why it requires courage to implement.
KPIs, Goals, and the Activity Equation
What to measure, how to set targets, and how to build a daily activity model that ties rep behaviour to revenue outcomes. Not all activity is equal; this chapter shows you how to weight it.
Coaching Over Control
The manager's instinct to step in and handle things directly is the same instinct that stops the team from growing. This chapter covers the coaching conversation — how to conduct it, how often, and what to look for.
The Manager's Internal Game
Managers bring their own tape recorder into the team environment. The beliefs a manager holds about their reps become a self-fulfilling environment. This chapter addresses that dynamic directly.
The Right People
Building a strong team starts with knowing what strong looks like. This chapter covers the attributes that predict sales success and how to assess for them before the hire.
Recruiting: Finding Them Before You Need Them
Reactive recruiting produces weak hires. This chapter covers the discipline of building a candidate pipeline before a seat opens, and how to stay connected to the market year-round.
Building the Machine
Onboarding, ramp plans, early milestones, and how to structure the first ninety days so new hires land with confidence and momentum rather than confusion.
The Sales Meeting: Agenda, Training, and Role Play
The weekly sales meeting is the single most underused coaching tool available to a manager. This chapter covers what a high-value meeting looks like versus a status update that could have been an email.
Champion Duties and the Mentorship Chain
How to build internal mentorship so the knowledge of your best reps spreads through the team without depending on you to replicate it.
Coaching the Price Conversation
Price is where deals go to die, and it is usually a coaching failure. This chapter covers how to prepare reps for value conversations before they happen.
Managing the Underperformer
Clear steps for addressing underperformance honestly, early, and in a way that gives the rep a real opportunity to succeed — and gives the organization clarity if they don't.
Managing the Top Performer
Top performers have different risks than underperformers. Boredom, entitlement, and departure are the failure modes. This chapter covers how to keep your best people challenged and retained.
Building a Sales Culture
Culture is not a ping-pong table. It is the set of behaviours that are rewarded, tolerated, and expected. This chapter covers how managers build culture through daily decisions.
Lead Generation: The Multi-Spoke Wheel
Depending on one lead source is a single point of failure. This chapter covers how to build a diverse, resilient lead generation approach that does not collapse when one channel slows.
Forecasting and Reporting Upward
How to translate pipeline reality into honest, credible upward communication. Includes how to handle the pressure to inflate numbers and why honesty is always the right call.
The Manager as the Bridge
The sales manager sits between reps and leadership. Both directions require different communication. This chapter covers how to translate effectively without losing credibility on either side.
Remote and Hybrid Team Management
Specific considerations for managing distributed teams: maintaining coaching cadence, pipeline visibility, culture, and performance accountability without daily in-person contact.
The Manager You're Building Toward
A closing chapter on the long arc of a management career. The best managers are always developing the next version of themselves — and developing the people who will eventually lead alongside them.
Concepts
Stage-based pipeline management and honest forecasting
KPI frameworks and the activity equation
Coaching conversations vs. control conversations
Recruiting before you need to hire
The onboarding ramp: structure for the first 90 days
Running a high-value weekly sales meeting
Managing underperformers and top performers differently
Building a sustainable sales culture
Remote and hybrid team management
Reporting upward with credibility
"Your number is not your number anymore. Your team's number is your number. The day you really understand that, your whole approach to management changes."
"The instincts that made you a great salesperson are the same instincts that will undermine your team if you do not learn when to redirect them."
Blog
FAQ
Who is Sales Leadership Made Simple for?
It is for sales managers — especially those who were promoted from individual contributor roles and are now responsible for a team's performance rather than their own.
Do I need to read Book One first?
No. Sales Leadership Made Simple stands on its own. It references the natural buying flow from Book One in places, but all relevant concepts are explained within the book.
Does it cover remote team management?
Yes. Chapter 18 covers remote and hybrid team management specifically, including how to maintain coaching cadence, pipeline visibility, and team culture without daily in-person contact.
How is this different from other management books?
Most management books treat selling and managing as separate topics. This book is built for people who know how to sell and need to learn how to build and lead a team that sells — which is a different job entirely.
Is it available on Kindle?
Yes. Sales Leadership Made Simple is available in both print and Kindle formats on Amazon.ca.
How long is the book?
The book covers nineteen chapters and is designed to be practical and direct — readable in a few sittings and referenced regularly throughout your management career.
Ready to read it?
Buy Paperback
Buy eBook
Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and libraries worldwide. Also available at Indigo and independent bookstores — ask your local store to order it.