Job Specifications
Introduction
As an Inside Sales Manager at IBM, you’ll lead one of the most important growth engines in the company — our inside sales organization. You’ll coach and inspire a high-performing team of Sellers and Development Reps who manage inbound demand, verlocity based outbound prospecting, client calls, virtual demos, and opportunity development across Canada.
This is a leadership role for someone who knows how to run a modern, metrics-driven inside sales floor and build a culture of performance, collaboration, and client value. You’ll operate as the “conductor” of a connected sales squad, uniting sellers, technical specialists, marketing, ecosystem partners, and the broader IBM sales organization toward shared revenue goals.
Your Role And Responsibilities
Digital Selling Tools & Tech Proficiency
Strong working knowledge of modern digital selling tools, including (or similar to):
Orum (parallel dialing)
SalesLoft (cadences + automation)
ZoomInfo (data enrichment + targeting)
LinkedIn Sales Navigator (prospecting + social selling)
Salesforce (pipeline management + forecasting)
Ability to analyze tool usage, optimize cadences, and coach AEs on improving performance with these platforms.
Outbound Sales & Pipeline Generation
Comfortable driving high-volume outbound activity expectations (team minimum: 150+ calls/week).
Expertise in outbound strategy — sequencing, target selection, messaging, objection handling, and pattern recognition.
Ability to help reps refine talk tracks, sharpen value propositions, and personalize outreach for different personas (Developer, Architect, CIO, CTO, VP-level).
Digital Prospecting & Social Selling
Strong understanding of multichannel outreach (phone, email, LinkedIn, social touchpoints) to create demand and engagement.
Ability to coach AEs on crafting compelling emails, social posts, and outreach sequences that convert.
Skilled at teaching reps when to escalate to a technical expert, and how to bring value to different buyer personas.
Sales Process & Execution Excellence
Deep understanding of end-to-end sales motions, including:
Interest Development & Discovery Progression
Qualification (IBM's Client Value Method (CVM))
Storytelling & Client Intimacy
Hand-offs to technical or partner teams
Closing coordination
Ability to coach reps through pipeline creation, qualification depth, forecasting, and opportunity hygiene.
Partner Ecosystem Collaboration
Experience working with channel or ecosystem partners to scale outreach, co-sell, or expand accounts.
Ability to guide reps on how to leverage partners for introductions, validation, demos, and technical resources.
Communication & Stakeholder Alignment
Clear, confident communicator capable of influencing across marketing, technical teams, product teams, and partner orgs.
Ability to translate field insights into actionable feedback for marketing and offer teams.
Data, Metrics & Performance Management
Comfortable managing and driving performance using dashboards, analytics, and activity data.
Ability to identify performance gaps quickly and coach reps toward consistent weekly execution.
Strong understanding of funnel metrics (activity → conversations → meetings → SQLs → wins).
Mindset & Attributes
High-energy leadership style; thrives in a fast-paced, always-learning sales environment.
Passion for developing talent and seeing early-career sellers succeed.
Bias for action: comfortable experimenting, iterating, and modernizing sales motions.
Strong sense of accountability for team results, pipeline health, and quota attainment.
Preferred Education
Master's Degree
Required Technical And Professional Expertise
Sales & Leadership Experience
3–5+ years of B2B sales experience in a digital, inside sales, or outbound-driven environment.
2+ years of sales leadership or team lead experience, ideally managing early-career or new-to-sales reps.
Proven track record of meeting or exceeding pipeline and revenue targets.
Digital Sales Tools Proficiency
Hands-on experience with modern sales engagement platforms such as:
SalesLoft (or equivalent cadence/engagement tool)
Orum or high-volume dialing platforms
ZoomInfo or other data-enrichment tools
LinkedIn Sales Navigator for social selling
Salesforce CRM for pipeline and forecasting
Ability to analyze tool usage data and coach sellers on improving effectiveness.
Outbound Prospecting & Pipeline Development Skills
Strong understanding of outbound motions, including sequencing, messaging, and persona-based outreach.
Demonstrated ability to coach or execute effective cold calling, email prospecting, and social engagement.
Experience applying qualification frameworks such as MEDDIC/MEDDICC, BANT, or similar.
Communication & Coaching Expertise
Ability to clearly articulate sales concepts and simplify complex ideas for new sellers.
Skilled in delivering structured feedback, running coaching sessions, and modeling effective sales conversations.
Strong written communication skills