The Sales Manager is responsible for hiring and training sales personnel, reporting back to senior managers, and sustaining an equitable incentive structure that elevates top performers, while maintaining profitability levels. A sales manager will be responsible for organizing and leading their sales team and ensuring that every team member has reached their target sales. Some companies have different cultures or protocols that make sales managers get involved with product development, taking on business development, and formulating strategies for high sales targets. Sales managers may be involved in developing sales strategies to present to their superiors. Some sales managers may just receive orders from their director or vice president.
Sales mangers maintain the knowledge of the company’s products and services. They are the ones that should report everything that is happening with the team they are supervising. They are also responsible for adhering to their assigned sales expense budgets. They must effectively monitor all their teams’ progressive and declining sales performance daily, weekly. and monthly. They serve as mothers and fathers of their team. As a result, they should also motivate their own members to achieve their sales quotas and to ensure that prospective customers are sold to in a way that is reflective of the company’s vision and values. Therefore, they need to have both qualitative, consultative, and some analytical skills.
The top challenge of sales managers is to create the right kind of culture within their sale team. This includes how they pitch their product and services. At times, the sales manager needs to have the ability to jump into a selling process and help close the sale.
Although a post-secondary education is not required to be successful in this field, it is highly recommended. If a sales manager does not have a college degree, they need to show a comparable level of work experience. Sales managers need to show a strong career progression. They need to have a history of quota achievement. Finally, they need to be able to show that they performed as well, or better than their peers. In addition to direct selling experience, sales managers should have gained management experience. Sales managers need to have current experience managing a group sales quota and associated expense budget. Most individuals applying for a sales manager experience have had at least five years of experience in sales. Prior examples of employing strong leadership skills are paramount.
Compensation for sales managers can vary dramatically by industry, geography, company size, and experience. For example, according to PayScale, a territory sales manager with 10 years of experience, managing a team of 5 sales representatives can expect to earn a median base salary of $64,500 with a median total cash compensation payout in excess of $72,000.
Data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
The salary range for Sales Manager begins around $23,000 and usually tops out around $80,000, with a mean in the neighborhood of $51,500. This is about 18% higher than the national average for annual salaries.
In order to qualify for most Sales Manager positions, you typically need to have a High School Diploma or higher.
Data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
The growth outlook for Sales Manager careers is estimated at about 5% while the estimated growth for all career fields over that same span is at about 10.12%. Over the next six years, Sales Manager jobs are expected to grow at a 102% lower rate than the national average for annual salaries.