Sales Leadership Competency Scorecard

Built to evaluate what a quota number can't show you: whether a VP/Director candidate can develop other people, run a forecast that's actually trustworthy, and build a structure that survives the next stage of growth. Score every criterion 1-5 against the behavioral anchors below — resist scoring on "gut feel" or on the strength of their own historical number alone.

Scoring Scale

1 = Below bar, clear gap · 3 = Solid, meets bar with room to grow · 5 = Exceptional, a genuine differentiator for this hire

---

Domain A — Coaching & Talent Development (weight 25%)

A1. Skill diagnosis

• L1: Coaches based on deal outcomes only; feedback is generic ("close more deals")
• L3: Identifies specific behavioral gaps (e.g., discovery depth, negotiation) from call observation
• L5: Runs a systematic skill-diagnosis process across the team; prioritizes coaching investment by which gap most constrains team revenue

A2. Coaching cadence & rigor

• L1: Reactive, ad hoc, tied only to deal reviews
• L3: Regular 1:1 coaching cadence with documented follow-up
• L5: Coaching is built into the team's operating rhythm with measurable skill-progression tracked over time

A3. Talent bench-building

• L1: Hires reactively when a seat opens
• L3: Maintains an active pipeline of bench candidates
• L5: Demonstrated track record of promoting from within; can name specific reps developed into managers/leaders

A4. Performance-management courage

• L1: Avoids or delays managing out underperformers
• L3: Manages underperformance with documented PIPs on a reasonable timeline
• L5: Track record of fast, fair, well-documented decisions the team respects even when painful

---

Domain B — Forecasting & Pipeline Rigor (weight 20%)

B1. Forecast accuracy

• L1: Gut-feel roll-up of rep-reported numbers
• L3: Defined methodology (commit/best-case/pipeline) with historical accuracy tracked
• L5: Consistently accurate within ±5-10%, with a clear, documented inspection process behind it

B2. Pipeline hygiene enforcement

• L1: Pipeline is stale/inflated, no enforcement
• L3: Regular pipeline scrubs with stage-exit criteria
• L5: Stage-exit criteria enforced systematically; can show before/after data on pipeline quality improving

B3. Deal inspection quality

• L1: Deal reviews are status updates
• L3: Deal reviews probe MEDDIC/MEDDPICC-style qualification gaps
• L5: Deal reviews reliably surface real risk early enough to act, evidenced by reduced late-stage slippage

---

Domain C — Org-Building & Structure Design (weight 20%)

C1. Structure-to-strategy fit

• L1: Org structure is inherited/default, not tied to GTM strategy
• L3: Can articulate why the current structure fits the current stage
• L5: Has redesigned org structure at least once in response to a stage change, with documented rationale and measurable outcome

C2. Role clarity & handoffs

• L1: Overlapping/unclear ownership between SDR/AE/CSM causes friction
• L3: Clear role definitions and handoff criteria exist
• L5: Handoff points are instrumented/measured (e.g., SQL-to-close conversion by source) and iterated on

C3. Comp plan design competence

• L1: Delegates comp design entirely; can't explain the mechanics
• L3: Can explain pay mix, accelerators, and the rationale behind the current plan
• L5: Has personally redesigned a comp plan to fix a specific behavior problem (e.g., sandbagging, discounting), with before/after evidence

---

Domain D — Strategic GTM Judgment (weight 20%)

D1. ICP & segmentation clarity

• L1: Team pursues any lead that shows interest
• L3: Documented ICP exists and is used in qualification
• L5: Has evolved ICP based on win/loss and cohort retention data, not just intuition

D2. Channel/motion fit

• L1: Applies one motion regardless of segment
• L3: Can articulate which motion fits which segment and why
• L5: Track record of shifting motion (e.g., adding PLG or a partner channel) in response to changing unit economics

D3. Pricing & packaging fluency

• L1: Treats pricing as fixed / someone else's problem
• L3: Understands current pricing rationale and common discounting patterns
• L5: Has directly influenced a pricing/packaging change based on field evidence (win/loss, expansion data)

---

Domain E — Executive Communication & Board Readiness (weight 15%)

E1. Narrative clarity

• L1: Updates are data dumps without a point of view
• L3: Presents a clear narrative connecting numbers to a story
• L5: Has presented directly to a board/exec team and can describe how the narrative changed a decision

E2. Bad-news delivery

• L1: Surfaces bad news late or softened
• L3: Surfaces risk early with a plan attached
• L5: Peers/references describe them as "you always know where you stand," even in misses

E3. Cross-functional influence

• L1: Operates in a sales silo
• L3: Working relationships with Marketing/CS/Product leadership
• L5: Has driven a cross-functional initiative (pricing change, roadmap input) using field evidence

---

Interview Question Bank (mapped to domain)

• A: "Tell me about a rep who was underperforming — walk me through your diagnosis, the specific coaching plan, and the outcome, good or bad." / "Name someone you've promoted into leadership — what specifically did you see in them, and what did you do to develop it?"
• B: "Walk me through how you build a forecast today, from rep input to the number you give your CRO/board. Where has it been wrong, and what did you change?" / "Tell me about a deal that slipped that shouldn't have — what did the process fail to catch?"
• C: "Walk me through an org structure you inherited or built and why it's shaped that way. What would break if you doubled headcount in 6 months?" / "Tell me about a time you changed a comp plan — what behavior were you fixing, and did it work?"
• D: "How do you define your ICP today, and what's changed it in the last year?" / "Tell me about a GTM motion you added or killed, and the evidence that drove the call."
• E: "Tell me about the hardest piece of bad news you've had to deliver to your CRO, CEO, or board. How did you handle it?" / "Tell me about a time your read on the business changed a decision above your level."

Reference-Check Question Set

• "1-5, how would you rate their coaching — not their own selling, their ability to make others better?"
• "Tell me about a specific rep or manager they developed. What's that person doing now?"
• "How accurate was their forecast historically? Any big misses, and how did they handle them?"
• "Did they ever have to restructure the team or manage someone out? How was it handled?"
• "What's the one thing you'd want their next employer to know before hiring them?"

Scoring & Decision Matrix

Weighted Score = Σ (Domain Average Score × Domain Weight)