A basement waterproofing sales manager coaches the in-home inspectors who test, measure and price drains, pumps, wall repairs and crawl space work. They ride along, read each rep's close and cancellation rates side by side, and write the rules that stop a one-visit close from turning into pressure.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, building finishing contractors · BLS, May 2025
As a Sales Manager in our basement waterproofing division, you will play a pivotal role in driving our business growth. You will oversee a team of sales representatives, setting targets, and measuring performance to ensure the company's revenue goals are met and exceeded.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Oversee the day-to-day operations of the sales team.
Set sales targets and develop strategies to achieve these goals.
Monitor the performance of individual sales representatives and provide constructive feedback.
Identify opportunities for growth and implement strategies for new client acquisition.
Foster a high-performance sales culture through motivation and coaching.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Daily interaction and coaching of sales representatives.
Tracking and reporting on sales targets.
Prospecting for new business opportunities.
Meeting with potential clients to discuss their basement waterproofing needs.
Liaising with other departments to ensure client satisfaction and repeat business.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Revenue per hour: $200
Sales target achievement: >100%
Customer Satisfaction Rating: >4.8 stars
New Client Acquisition: 15 new clients per month
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, or related field.
Minimum of 5 years experience in a sales role, with at least 2 years in a managerial position.
Proven track record of meeting and exceeding sales targets.
Strong interpersonal and leadership skills.
Knowledge of the home services industry, specifically basement waterproofing, is a plus.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience in the home services industry, specifically in basement waterproofing.
Proven track record of managing a high performing sales team.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to travel to client locations as needed.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours are Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM, with occasional evening and weekend availability for client meetings.
Minimal travel may be required.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range of $75,000 - $85,000 annually, commensurate with experience.
Performance-based bonus structure.
Benefits include Health, Dental, Vision, 401k, and paid time off.
10. Company Culture and Overview
At [Company Name], we believe in the power of teamwork and personal growth. We foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement, encouraging each member to strive for excellence. Our commitment to customer satisfaction is the cornerstone of our success, and we are looking for individuals who share this vision.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
Waterproofing reps sell a system the homeowner can't see working until the next storm. The manager coaches the inspection as much as the close, and watches for the numbers that show a rep selling on fear.
Set, sat, closed, then canceled
Read each rep's numbers on one line, by lead source: visits set for them, visits where every owner sat down, sales, cancellations and declined loans. A rep with the team's best close rate and a pile of cancellations isn't the team's best seller. High closes with high cancels usually point to a rush at the table or a price the homeowner didn't follow. Pull that rep's last few contracts, and call two of the homeowners who canceled.
One visit, without pressure
Write down what a first-visit close may and may not look like. If reps show a list price and then a lower price for tonight, the FTC's pricing guide asks whether homeowners were really offered the higher price, openly and honestly, over a reasonably substantial period. One set high only so it can be cut is what the guide calls fictitious. Reps leave when asked and don't stack offers that expire at the door. Coach to these rules on every ride-along. Source: eCFR: 16 CFR 233.1, FTC Guides Against Deceptive Pricing (former price comparisons).
The crew checks the rep's work
The lead installer rereads each sold job before the floor is cut, and the crew finds what the rep missed: a leaking wall left off the proposal, a pit that won't fit where it was drawn, a discharge line with nowhere to go. Ask operations to send you every change order and scope fix, sorted by rep. A rep with a steady stream of them needs ride-alongs on the inspection, not the close.
Add-ons need a reason in the file
Battery backups, alarms, dehumidifiers and wall braces raise the ticket, and a spiff on each one tempts a rep to sell them in every house. Pay the spiff only when the file shows why this house needs it: outages the homeowner described, a high humidity reading in the crawl space, a measured bow in the wall. Review a sample of add-on sales each month, and drop any spiff that sells more add-ons than the readings support.
How much basement waterproofing sales managers make
Sales managers who work for building finishing contractors earned a median of $124,650 a year ($59.93 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $148,270 median for sales managers in all industries. About 1,170 of the 637,080 sales managers in that survey work for building finishing contractors.
Pay is a salary plus a performance bonus in the template. Tie the team part of the bonus to jobs still sold after the cancellation window and loan approval, so a pushed sale that unwinds pays the manager nothing.
Building finishing contractors
$124,650$124,650 median Middle half $83,970–$153,740 10th–90th $70,580–$205,660
All industries
$148,270$148,270 median Middle half $100,360–$207,340 10th–90th $73,170–$290,540
$0k$50k$100k$150k$200k$250k$300k$350k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Building finishing contractors
$70,580
$83,970
$124,650
$153,740
$205,660
All industries
$73,170
$100,360
$148,270
$207,340
$290,540
BLS doesn’t publish pay for waterproofing contractors on their own. These figures cover building finishing contractors, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has led in-home reps for a home improvement company, ideally waterproofing or foundation repair
Can test walls, open a sump pit and spot a moving wall without help
Spots the rep whose cancellations or change orders run high, and finds out why
Acts on a pressure complaint the same week, whoever the rep is
Turns a ride-along into two or three changes the rep makes at the next visit
Teach these on the job
Your drain, pump, wall and crawl space systems and their limits
How far reps may discount, and which financing plans they may offer
Your rule for when a structural engineer sees a wall first
The cancellation paperwork your states require at the table
Your CRM's sales reports
The manager's day runs through the in-home sales CRM: each rep's appointments, results, photos and proposals. Add the waterproofing price book, each lender's portal for loan decisions, and the crews' change orders, which show where a proposal missed.
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Stopping fear selling
A customer complains that a rep said their family would get sick from mold unless they bought that day. What do you do?
A strong answer: Calls the customer, offers to cancel or make it right, investigates the rep's other deals, coaches or disciplines, and restates the team's standards.
Behavioral · Hiring and training reps
Tell me about how you hired and trained in-home sales reps who had never sold waterproofing.
A strong answer: Explains who they hired and why, how new reps learned to read basements through ride-alongs and practice evaluations, the honest-selling standards set, and the change in close rate or complaints.
Judge the team on sales that held, not signatures. Replace the template's dollar figures with what your team did over its last two wet seasons.
Revenue per hour
Held sales divided by the hours reps spend on visits and driving between them, team-wide, from the CRM and calendars. Decide once whether rehash revisits count, and keep it that way.
Sales target achievement
Each rep's held sales against their monthly goal, then the team's against its goal. A rep fed mostly home sale and crawl space leads gets a goal built from those leads, not the team average.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Ratings on each rep's sold jobs, read with the crew's notes from install day. When a homeowner says the work wasn't what they expected, pull the proposal and the inspection photos.
New Client Acquisition
New households that signed and held each month, counted once per address. Track jobs from agents and other referral partners on their own line.
Who works canceled waterproofing contracts: the rep, the sales manager or the rehash specialist?
Decide it in writing. A common split: the rep makes one call to learn why, if the homeowner is open to it, and then the file goes to the rehash specialist, who follows the calling rules on that page. The sales manager reads every cancellation reason each week. Nobody argues with a homeowner who has canceled.
How much does a basement waterproofing sales manager make?
Sales managers who work for building finishing contractors earned a median of $124,650 a year ($59.93 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $83,970 and $153,740 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
What goes in a waterproofing price book?
Build it from the parts crews install: drain length, pits, pump models, backup power, wall bracing and crawl space area, with what each includes. Set the lowest price each rep may offer without calling you. Review it with operations and the CFO when material costs or crew days change, so reps never quote from an old sheet.
What background makes a strong waterproofing sales manager?
The template's ask is a bachelor's degree and five years in sales, with at least two in management. The closest matches have run in-home teams selling a system the buyer can't test that day: foundation repair, roofing, windows. An inspector ready to coach can fit too, if they'll hand most of their own appointments to the team.
Can reps throw in a free battery backup to close the sale?
Show it as a discount instead. The FTC's "free" guide says that when a product or service is usually sold at a price reached through bargaining, rather than at a regular price, calling something else "free" with the sale is improper. If your reps negotiate the system price at the kitchen table, the guide's logic makes the backup part of the deal, not a gift. Count it against the rep's discount limit like any other.
Should waterproofing reps ask for the sale on the first visit?
Asking is fine once the homeowner has the readings, photos, a written proposal and the price. What matters is the way back: offer a return visit at the same price to anyone who wants a spouse there, another quote or time to think. A sale won with pressure tonight tends to come back as a cancellation this week.
