What does a sales manager do? Complete career guide to skills, responsibilities, and success
A sales manager leads and supervises sales agents and runs the daily sales operations of a business. See the responsibilities and skills needed to succeed as a sales manager.
Last updated June 15, 2023
The career path of a sales manager isn’t always linear—there are often twists, turns, and adventures along the way. But there are common checkpoints to reach while working toward your goal, like earning your degree and learning the ropes in an internship or entry-level position.
Our guide shows you what it takes to become a sales manager, describes the responsibilities of the role, and provides tips to help you stay on track. Whether you’re already in a sales position and looking to level up into sales management or a natural leader wanting to learn the basics, our guide can be a valuable asset as you embark on your sales manager journey.
What is a sales manager?
A sales manager leads and supervises sales teams and oversees the day-to-day sales operations of a business. This person has a robust set of responsibilities, including developing the company’s sales strategy, setting sales goals, and tracking sales performance analytics.
What does a sales manager do? Top 5 responsibilities
A sales manager’s responsibilities vary by company and industry. However, most sales manager job descriptions share several common elements.
When you secure a sales manager role, these five responsibilities are typically included in your job expectations.
Hire sales team members
A core responsibility of a sales manager is building a cohesive sales team by hiring skilled sales agents. You’re expected to create a detailed sales rep job description that attracts top talent. If you work for an enterprise-level business, you may have recruiters to help comb the landscape for agents who show the potential to be a good fit. You’re also responsible for conducting interviews to find candidates with the right skills for the job.
As a sales manager, you must have an eye for traits that make a good sales rep. You don’t want to hire someone only to discover they don’t meet your expectations for success. Bringing thoughtfulness and care to the hiring process means you’ll create a stronger team.
Train and mentor sales reps
The best sales managers mentor and coach sales reps to succeed. As a sales manager, you should provide team members with the tools and resources they need to thrive in their roles. You’re responsible for training all agents—from new hires to veterans—on the company’s products, services, sales processes, and techniques (like identifying upselling opportunities).
To keep your team’s sales skills sharp, you’ll need to lead regular training sessions and encourage your agents to attend in-person workshops and conferences. You’ll also want to schedule one-on-one meetings with agents to gauge their progress, help them through challenges, and improve development areas. Sales managers must motivate their teams and generate excitement about new product offerings and how to sell them, find new leads, and close deals.
Oversee sales strategy and processes
Sales managers oversee sales strategies, processes, and best practices for their agents to follow. You’ll set target markets and establish goals and sales quotas for the team. You’ll also map the customer journey and determine which channels the team will use to secure sales. Analysis, coaching, and a strong understanding of sales tactics are critical here.
Analyze sales data and reports
Reporting and analytics software can help you understand key sales data and performance metrics so you can make informed business decisions. Using the right tools, you can improve your planning and sales strategy with accurate forecasts and identify areas where you can increase conversions.
In addition to overseeing sales growth, sales managers are responsible for personal and team growth. They must analyze metrics and KPIs to see how the team and individual agents perform. With this data, you can see where your team excels or find coaching opportunities to get agents back on track.
Collaborate with other departments
Sales managers work closely with other customer-facing teams, such as marketing and customer support, to keep deals moving through the sales pipeline. You’ll often collaborate with marketing to create sales enablement materials, develop customer personas, and build targeted campaigns.
Sales managers help marketers better understand the customer by sharing their knowledge and giving them access to sales conversations. Additionally, you’ll communicate customer feedback to the product and engineering teams so they can improve the product or service.
Sales management skills employers look for
For sales managers to thrive in their roles, they need to possess a mix of hard and soft skills.
- Hard skills are technical abilities you can quantify—like writing HTML or typing speed.
- Soft skills are interpersonal characteristics or traits that you can’t necessarily measure—such as organizational skills or adaptability.
It’s important to know which sales manager skills employers look for—it allows you to improve on the talents you already possess or start developing the ones you need. Here’s a rundown of the top traits and sales skills employers want in a sales manager.
Top hard skills for sales managers
Focusing on certain hard skills allows you to position yourself for success as a sales manager. Understanding these skills and their importance can also help you know what to look for when finding talent for your sales team.
- Sales forecasting skills
- Product knowledge
- Recruiting and hiring top talent
- Leadership skills
- Data analysis
- Strategic thinking
- Team management
- Sales CRM knowledge and experience
Desired soft skills in sales management
Soft skills can be just as valuable as quantifiable skills—and in some situations, even more so. These sales management skills can help you connect with customers and teammates, enabling you to build stronger relationships and enhance the effectiveness of your hard skills.
- Empathy
- Resilience
- Communication
- Problem-solving
- Motivation
- Delegation
- Active listening
Prepare for your sales interview
Want the answers to the test? Our comprehensive list of common sales interview questions will prepare you with the information you need to ace the interview.
How to become a sales manager
The road to becoming a sales manager will be slightly different for everyone, but generally, you’ll need to acquire relevant degrees and certifications, gain experience working as a salesperson, meet sales goals, develop your skills, and build your network.
For those starting from scratch, follow these five tips to make your dream of becoming a sales manager a reality.
1. Satisfy the sales manager education requirements
Fulfilling the sales management education requirements is a common place to start. Although it’s possible to have a successful sales manager career without getting a college degree, the skills and years of experience you gain in the classroom are extremely valuable. A degree provides tangible proof of your training and can give you an advantage over candidates who took an alternate path. Plus, it looks great on your resume.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the typical education level of a sales manager is a bachelor’s degree—majors in management, marketing, math, finance, accounting, statistics, business law, and economics are most helpful. You can level up further by pursuing a master’s degree in sales management or business administration.
If you already have some sales experience and want to skip the advanced degree, you can get professional certifications to gain more expertise. This may signal that you’re ready to climb the ladder. Some available courses include:
- SMEI Sales Executive certification
- Certified Professional Sales Person (CPSP) certification
- Certified Professional Sales Leader (CPSL) certification
2. Learn and develop sales manager skills
Becoming a successful sales manager goes beyond learning how to be a great salesperson. In addition to ensuring sales teams hit their sales targets, you must be a team motivator, strategist, leader, and mentor. Mastering the hard and soft skills that help you excel in sales will be invaluable throughout your career.
While working as a sales rep, make your intentions known to your mentor or sales leadership. A good boss will help you grow by giving you more responsibilities to prepare you for the sales manager role. They’ll also advocate for you when new opportunities open up.
Learning from those above you doesn’t stop when you move into a management position. Chalene Christian, manager of mid-market sales at Zendesk, believes mentors are crucial.
“I think the most important part [of growing as a sales manager] is to have a good manager and mentor who can guide you through the difficult conversations and situations that arise,” she says.
3. Gain relevant experience
Higher education can provide targeted knowledge for sales management, but that doesn’t have to be the path you take. You can work in a sales role for two to five years to get sales experience and build your skills and expertise.
If you’re working through college or climbing the corporate ladder from the ground up, it’s a great idea to apply for an entry-level sales rep position to gain on-the-job experience. Short-term roles like internships can also give you valuable experience that stands out on your sales resume.
4. Meet your sales goals
Being a high performer by consistently meeting or exceeding your sales goals is a surefire way to get noticed by your superiors. Set challenging but achievable sales quotas and communicate your progress to your manager or mentor. Be transparent and proactive with your manager to stay on track. Take the lead on projects and demonstrate the skills and ability to handle more responsibilities.
5. Network with sales professionals
Who you know can be just as important as what you know. It’s crucial to connect with other people in your industry so that when opportunities arise, your resume lands near the top of the pile.
Reach out to sales professionals on LinkedIn and engage with relevant posts regularly. Participate in business networking groups and meetups, and try to form meaningful connections.
How much does a sales manager make?
The median sales manager salary in the U.S. is $115,445 per year, with the range falling between $69,000 and $198,000. The average base salary for corporate sales managers varies based on several factors:
- Experience and skills
- Credentials
- Location and cost of living
- Business size and type
It’s also important to note that many managers aren’t actively making sales, so their salaries may not be supplemented by sales commissions. Some may receive bonuses depending on the sales growth rate of their team, while other companies could offer unique manager sales incentives.
What are the 5 types of sales management jobs?
Sales management jobs are projected to grow by five percent from 2021 to 2031, with an average of 41,900 available positions annually. With countless rungs on the corporate ladder and several leadership roles available across the landscape of sales management, finding your perfect fit is achievable. Here are five common types of sales management positions you can expect to see in all industries.
1. Account manager
Job overview: Account managers work directly with customers to address their business needs and build deeper relationships. They also collaborate with sales teams—like specialty sellers or sales engineers—and customer service teams to identify sales opportunities.
Roles and responsibilities: Monitor sales and sales goals, create sales reports, execute sales strategies, and manage customer relationships.
2. Sales and marketing manager
Job overview: This position oversees sales and marketing activities and is responsible for managing sales and marketing teams. Related roles include inside sales managers (who manage reps working in an office), outside sales managers (who manage field agents), product sales managers (who monitor the performance of a specific product), and more.
Roles and responsibilities: Research and implement sales and marketing opportunities, manage sales teams, oversee and meet sales targets, and train and mentor sales reps.
3. Sales support manager
Job overview: This person monitors and manages operations, sales management objectives, and processes that help support sales teams. They also oversee resource allocation and promotional strategies and develop commission programs.
Roles and responsibilities: Establish best practices, aggregate content for sales campaigns and workflows, create and update sales training materials, and track sales analytics for actionable insights.
4. Regional sales manager
Job overview: This person manages sales teams across several territories and regions. Additionally, regional sales managers oversee the budget and finances of the sales department and report to the sales director.
Roles and responsibilities: Create and implement sales plans, manage sales performance, perform regional sales forecasting, and achieve sales goals.
5. Sales director
Job overview: A sales director oversees sales operations and revenue growth across the business. Sales directors are talented salespeople and experts in managing company-wide sales teams.
Roles and responsibilities: Compile and analyze sales reports, develop sales strategies, ensure the business hits annual sales targets, and build relationships with sales team members and customers.
What is a typical sales manager work environment?
The sales industry is fast-paced, challenging, and exhilarating—for sales managers, these attributes are amplified. Taking on responsibility for a sales team means managers must be able to navigate multiple personalities and hundreds of deals while staying cool, calm, and collected.
The sales manager role is typically a full-time position, with some companies requiring work on evenings or weekends. Travel is often required, especially for field reps and regional sales managers. This includes customer meetings as well as conferences and training.
According to the U.S. News best jobs rankings, sales managers scored an overall job rating of 6.1 out of 10. They were ranked #2 in Best Sales and Marketing Jobs, #19 in Best-Paying Jobs, and #53 in Overall Best 100 Jobs. They also earned the following ratings for specific attributes:
- Upward mobility(opportunities for advancement): Average
- Stress level (combination of work environment and responsibilities): High
- Flexibility (ability to move work schedule for life events): Below average
Sales managers may tell you that maintaining their work-life balance is tough, but the right candidate will feel that the invigorating environment and salary make the trade-off worth it.
From sales rep to sales leader
For the right person, the fulfillment of being a sales manager can often be worth managing the role’s challenges. It’s hard to beat the thrill of leading your sales team to meet or exceed their quotas and collaborating with others to grow the business.
But you don’t have to wait for the title of sales manager to start helping your fellow reps succeed. Being proactive and supporting your team members will get you noticed and fast-track your entry into your dream job.
Prepare for your sales interview
Want the answers to the test? Our comprehensive list of common sales interview questions will prepare you with the information you need to ace the interview.
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