The first two weeks after a sales leader leaves
When a sales leader leaves, the quarter does not wait for the search. Five steps in the first two weeks decide whether the next leader inherits a team or a rescue.
When a CRO or VP Sales leaves, the board's attention goes to the search. The quarter does not wait for it. The first two weeks decide whether the next leader inherits a team or a rescue.
1. Name who owns the number, today
Not a committee and not "the CEO, for now". One person, with the authority to make deal decisions this week. Uncertainty about ownership costs more deals than any departure.
2. Re-forecast deal by deal
Sit with the sellers, not the slides. Go through the largest deals one at a time and ask who the economic buyer is and what happens next. The forecast you inherit is the last leader's opinion. Rebuild it from evidence.
3. Call the customers who matter
The top customers and the buyers in the biggest open deals will hear about the change. Better they hear it from you, with a name and a plan. Relationship capital is operational resilience, and it is spent fastest when nobody is looking after it.
4. Hold the team
On my first day in one role, my top seller quit before I reached my desk. I called the team together that morning and set out the plan: commit fully, or leave respectfully. People can handle bad news. What they cannot handle is silence.
5. Decide what kind of leader you need before you write the brief
A founder-stage company, a scale-up and a turnaround need different leaders. Decide which you are before the search firm writes the specification, or you will hire the last leader again.
Questions boards ask when a sales leader leaves
Should the chief executive cover the role?
For a week, perhaps. For a quarter, rarely. The chief executive has a company to run, and sellers can tell when the person reviewing their deals has no time for them.
Interim cover or wait for the permanent hire?
If the permanent hire is more than a month or two away and the quarter matters, cover the seat. An interim sales director holds the number, steadies the team and gives the board a clearer view of the role before the shortlist.
What should the search brief say?
The stage the company is at, the three constraints the new leader must fix, and the measures the board will use at day 90. Write that before the search firm writes the specification.
Is this on your board's agenda?
Thirty minutes, in confidence, on what you are seeing and what I would look at first.