Selling consulting, IT services and transformation work is different from selling a software product. There is no product to demonstrate, the buyer is purchasing people and outcomes, and the deal is shaped as much by delivery as by sales. A sales leader who has thrived in product sales will not automatically succeed here, so it pays to know what to assess.
Key Takeaways
- In services sales the offer is shaped with the client, so look for leaders who can scope, price and stand behind a solution, not just present one.
- Test how candidates worked with delivery and practice leaders, and how they protected margin as well as revenue.
- Relationships matter, but ask what happened to the revenue when the leader moved on: was it the relationship or the firm’s capability that won the work?
Why services sales leadership is its own discipline
In a product business, the sales leader sells something that already exists. In a consulting or services business, the thing being sold is often designed during the sale: the scope, the team, the commercial model and the risk. That changes who the buyer talks to, how long decisions take and what can go wrong after signature.
It also changes the internal job. Services sales leaders rarely win work alone. They depend on partners, practice heads, solution architects and delivery managers, and the best of them are trusted by those colleagues as much as by clients.
What to assess
1. Shaping and scoping deals, not just closing them
Ask candidates to walk through a significant deal from first conversation to contract. Who defined the scope? How was the problem framed with the client? What was left out, and why? Strong services sellers can explain how they turned a broad client need into a proposal the firm could deliver profitably.
2. Pricing, margin and commercial risk
Revenue alone is a poor measure in services. Explore how the candidate approached pricing models such as time and materials, fixed price or outcome-based contracts, how they protected margin, and how they handled contractual risk. Ask about a deal they walked away from, and a deal that turned out to be less profitable than expected.
3. Working with delivery and practice leaders
Many services sales problems start with a gap between what was sold and what can be delivered. Ask how the candidate involved delivery colleagues before committing, how disagreements were resolved and how they kept clients’ expectations realistic. References from delivery leaders are often more revealing than references from other sellers.
4. Relationships versus capability
Senior relationships are valuable, but they are not a strategy on their own. Ask what proportion of a candidate’s revenue came from a small number of long-standing contacts, and what happened to those accounts after they left a previous firm. Leaders who can win work on the strength of the firm’s capability, not only their personal network, are easier to build a sales function around.
5. Account growth and renewals
In consulting and managed services, much of the value comes from expanding existing relationships: follow-on phases, new departments and renewals. Look for evidence of structured account planning, and ask how the candidate identified the next piece of work while the current engagement was still running.
6. Long cycles and procurement
Larger services deals often involve formal tenders, frameworks and procurement teams. Ask how candidates managed bid decisions, how they qualified out of opportunities that were unlikely to be won, and how they kept senior sponsors engaged through a long process. Our guide to verifying a sales leader’s quota attainment covers how to test the numbers behind those cycles.
7. Building a team or selling personally?
Some services firms need a senior seller who wins large deals personally; others need a leader who builds a team of business developers and account directors. Be clear which you need before you meet candidates. If the question is really about the level of the role, see CRO or VP Sales: choosing the right leader for your next stage.
Questions worth asking
- Talk me through a deal where the scope changed significantly during the sale. How did you handle it?
- Tell me about a contract that was less profitable than planned. What would you do differently?
- Which delivery or practice leaders would vouch for how you sell, and what would they say?
- Which of your accounts kept growing after you left, and why?
How Selective Search can help
Selective Search has worked in senior technology sales recruitment since 2005. Our consulting sales recruitment work focuses on sales leaders for consulting, IT services and transformation businesses. If you are planning a hire like this, talk to us about your brief, or see our current live roles.