Track 3: Sales Leadership Excellence
From Sales Manager to Strategic Sales Leader
Build the commercial clarity, operating discipline, and leadership confidence needed to scale a stronger sales organisation.
The Sales Leadership Excellence Program is an 8-session online course designed for sales managers and sales leaders in startups, scale-ups, and SMEs selling complex B2B solutions. Over 16 hours of practical and interactive learning, you will strengthen your go-to-market focus, design a more effective coverage model, build a more disciplined sales process, improve forecast reliability, and lead your team with greater structure and confidence.
This program equips you with the frameworks, tools, and management insight needed to professionalise your sales organisation, improve execution, and prepare for scalable growth.
About the course
Who This Program Is For
Already lead a sales team or commercial function (CSO, VP Sales, Head of Sales, Sales Manager, Commercial Lead)
Work in startups, scale-ups, or SMEs selling complex B2B solutions
Have several years of management responsibility and want to become more strategic and structured
Need to strengthen go-to-market focus, team design, process discipline, and cross-functional execution
Want to scale a more predictable and professional sales organisation
What You Will Learn
Over 8 interactive online sessions (2h each, once per week), you’ll gain advanced skills to:
Clarify your go-to-market focus, target segments, and commercial priorities
Design the right sales organisation and coverage model for your stage of growth
Build a stronger sales process and pipeline architecture with clear stage discipline
Improve forecast reliability and run more effective deal reviews
Translate growth ambition into realistic targets, capacity logic, and compensation principles
Lead with stronger coaching, accountability, and performance management habits
Improve alignment with Marketing, Product, Founders, Customer Success, and Operations
Prepare your sales organisation for the next stage of scaling and expansion
Detailed Curriculum
Session 1 – GTM Focus & The Strategic Role of Sales Leadership
Clarify where your company should play and which customers matter most
Strengthen segmentation, ICP, and commercial focus
Understand the shift from managing deals to leading a sales system
Session 2 – Organisation Design & Coverage Models
Design the right sales organisation across segments, geographies, and channels
Clarify role responsibilities and commercial interfaces
Choose between direct, partner, and hybrid coverage modelsSession 3 – Building the Sales Process & Pipeline Architecture
Create a structured sales process with clear stage gates
Improve qualification and opportunity progression discipline
Use CRM and pipeline structure as true management tools
Session 3 – Building the Sales Process & Pipeline Architecture
Create a structured sales process with clear stage gates
Improve qualification and opportunity progression discipline
Use CRM and pipeline structure as true management tools
Session 4 – Forecasting, Deal Review & Management Insight
Improve forecast reliability and managerial visibility
Run stronger deal reviews and challenge false optimism early
Combine stage logic, judgment, and inspection to improve predictability
Session 5 – Targets, Quotas, Capacity & Compensation Logic
Translate company objectives into realistic sales targets
Understand quota logic, team capacity, and ramp-up assumptions
Apply motivating compensation principles without unnecessary complexity
Session 6 – Leadership, Coaching & Performance Management
Strengthen your leadership posture as a sales manager
Coach more effectively through 1:1s, deal reviews, and team rhythms
Manage accountability and underperformance with greater confidence
Session 7 – Cross-Functional Alignment & Commercial Execution
Reduce friction between Sales, Marketing, Product, Founders, Customer Success, and Operations
Improve handovers, shared priorities, and commercial decision-making
Build alignment rituals that support execution
Session 8 – Strategic Scaling & Expansion
Recognise when the current commercial model no longer fits the next growth stage
Evaluate scaling options across segments, geographies, channels, and role specialisation
Prepare a more robust roadmap for the evolution of your sales organisation
About the Instructor
Benedict Stalder is the founder of Scaling Up Sales. He moved up the career ladder in sales in leading multinational companies and identified that one reason these companies became successful is how they implemented Sales Management processes. He identifed that these Sales Management processes are very rearly taught or understood in Startups or SME’s.
This gave him the drive to start the Sales Management Academy with the aim to educate founders and leaders in how to scale the commercial organisation and learn the key to sales success.
To summaries, Benedict has:
35+ years in sales, startups, and executive leadership
Board member, advisor, and founder coach
Creator of the Scaling Up Sales methodology
Experienced in helping tech companies expand in Europe, US, and Asia
What Participants Will Walk Away With
A repeatable framework for managing and scaling sales
Confidence in leadership, forecasting, and negotiation
Tools, templates, and dashboards you can implement immediately
A network of like-minded sales leaders in high-growth tech companies
Format & Logistics
Format: 8 x 2 Hour live online sessions (interactive webinars), once per week for eight consecutive weeks
Language: English
Investment: CHF 1’800 (full 8-session bundle)
Optional: Quarterly Keynote and Executive Networking Events in Zurich or Lausanne (CHF 400 each)
Ready to take your sales leadership to the next level?
Seats are limited to ensure interactivity and we look forward to receiving your application!
For any questions, please reach out to our admissions manager by email or book a call.
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Course occurrence: 2 Times / year
Duration: The course is structured as a series of 8×2 hour sessions (totaling 16 hours), delivered once a week over the span of 8 weeks.
Location: Online Zoom
Price: CHF 1’800.- per participant
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Entrepreneur, Co-founders
Directors, CEO, CCO, CSO, managers …
Sales & Business Development people
For B2B industries (technology, health, innovation, industry, services, energy …)
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Apply using the application form.
Your application is reviewed.
Optional call to ensure the program fits your needs.
You are admitted to the course.
You receive an invoice with the course fees.
Paying the course fee reserves your seat on the course.
You will receive a confirmation email with the course dates.
You receive detailed participation instructions one week before each course session.
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About half of the participants participated with one or more colleagues or their cofounders.
Each participant is required to fill out an application form.
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I won't be able to attend one of the days of my planned session.
Do I have to select another session?
- You can catch up any missed days up to one year later in another session.Will I receive a certificate of completion for this course?
- You will receive a certificate mentioning the session and days you attendedDoes this course earn me ECTS points?
- Our course is designed for working professionals and entrepreneurs who are no longer enrolled as full-time students and, therefore, do not qualify for ECTS credit allocation.