Among the most positive insights culled from the SalesFuel 2025 Voice of the Sales Rep survey is that more than three-fourths (78.07%) of reps who responded gave their manager a four- or five-star rating, while only 8% of respondents gave their manager one or two stars out of five.
A total of 374 respondents (45.06%) gave their managers five stars out of five. Another 274 (33.01%) gave their managers four stars. That such a large percentage of sales reps rate their managers highly is critical, as numerous studies show that a positive relationship with a manager is closely linked to increased motivation and performance, while a negative relationship is linked with poor performance.
CEOs fare almost as well in the SalesFuel survey, with 76.39% of respondents giving their CEOs five or four stars. A total of 349 respondents (42.05%) gave their CEO five stars, while 285 (34.34%) gave their CEO four stars. Only 7.59% of respondents gave their CEO one or two stars.
The stellar ratings for managers is a good sign for companies’ ability to retain high-performing reps. A whopping 82% of employees surveyed by GoodHire, a company that performs background checks on job candidates, said they would potentially quit their job because of a bad manager.
“Engaged sales managers can also have a substantially positive impact – especially with younger salespeople – a phenomenon called the Pygmalion effect,” adds C. Lee Smith, CEO of SalesFuel and creator of the TeamTrait sales assessment test platform. “When a manager shows they genuinely believe in a young rep, it sparks drive and confidence. That’s when the light bulbs go off and magic happens.”
Performance Linked to Quality of Relationship
“The impact of the relationship between managers and employees should never be underestimated concerning employee performance and productivity,” confirms Nosipho Pearl Dlamini, Sachin Suknunan and Anrusha Bhana, three South African educators, in their 2022 report entitled “Influence of Employee-Manager Relationship on Employee Performance and Productivity.”
Interestingly, the high marks for managers from the more than 800 sales reps who responded to the SalesFuel survey differs significantly from the responses the three South African researchers received when they polled 40 administrative workers at a Durban financial services company. In that survey, only nine respondents said they had good to excellent relationships with their supervisor. Most respondents in that survey rated their supervisor’s management style at 5 or below on a 10-point scale, including 10 respondents who rated it as 3.
In addition to being significantly more satisfied with their managers compared with workers in the South African study, the majority of sales professionals who responded to the SalesFuel survey are also satisfied with their sales and marketing teams, their IT support and their company’s public perception.
Room for Improvement
One category where satisfaction appeared to be lagging is adoption and prioritization of artificial intelligence (AI). Slightly more than 20% of respondents rated their company’s prioritization of AI at one or two stars
Also, salespeople appear to be only somewhat satisfied with their company’s efforts in professional development. About 67% rate their company’s sales training four or five stars, while nearly 14% give one or two stars to the training they receive.
“High-performing sales professionals stand out by continuously seeking new knowledge and opportunities to build their skills,” states Smith. “Those who consistently exceed their goals invest in themselves and put what they’ve learned into practice — a critical mindset for leveraging AI in sales.”
Studies show that today’s multigenerational work force craves more training, but only when it’s applicable to their work and helpful to attain new skills or improve performance. In a SurveyMonkey poll of more than 650 workers (not all in sales), 86% said that job training is important to them. Nearly three out of four (74%) said they are willing to complete training outside of work hours to improve their job performance
What skills should sales managers focus on? It can be industry-and even individual-specific, of course. However, when respondents to the Voice of the Sales Rep survey were asked to identify their top three weaknesses, four areas received over 30% of responses:
- Handling objections (37.11%)
- Connecting with the person who controls the budget (36.51%)
- Gaining referrals and testimonials (35.66%)
- Pre-meeting and pre-call intelligence (30.48%)
Beyond training, reps have a similar lukewarm feeling about the quality of their company’s inbound marketing. Just over 66% rated inbound leads four or five stars, while 10.6% scored the quality of inbound leads as one or two stars.
Know and Hone Relationship-Builders
When it comes to improving the manager-employee relationship, the authors of the South African study cite a number of challenges that negatively impact how workers and their managers get along. These include poor communication, favoritism, lack of understanding, lack of guidance, and managers having poor people skills.
Clearly, the researchers state, ongoing management training in all areas should be prioritized. Emphasis also should be placed on employee recognition, improved communication and a structured means to address employee well-being.
One indication of what managerial skills matter most to reps is data from the SalesFuel survey on what qualities the best manager they ever had possessed. Strong leadership and communication skills, authenticity, empathy and a knack for inspiring were among the most common traits mentioned.
“He was supportive, but also communicated clear goals, targets and direction. He would also make sure senior management was aware of the efforts and achievements of the team,” one survey respondent said of the best manager they ever had.
Another stated, “Supportive. Provided clear direction and feedback. Clearly defined roles and expectations. Understood the stress of business and appropriately managed/distributed workload.”
In his 2025 article on courageous leadership for Harvard Business Review, Ranjay Gulati, a Harvard Business School professor, advises leaders at all levels to focus on what is in their control.
“In the world of sports, this strategy is often described as focusing on process, not outcomes,” Gulati writes. “Although you can’t predict how your opponent will perform or the final score of any game, you do control your preparation, the energy you bring to the court or field, and how closely you adhere to your playbook.”
The high scores that reps give their managers in the SalesFuel survey indicates that managers, in general, are doing a good job of guiding and supporting their teams. However, it’s always wise to dig deeper into data to find areas ripe for improvement and means to build even stronger workplace relationships. There’s ample evidence that such efforts pay off for everyone on the team.
