How To Become A Sales Manager

If you want to assume a leadership position in the field of sales, you can strive to become a sales manager. In this role, you will be directing the sales team of an organization. This entails doing a variety of tasks, ranging from assigning sales representatives to their respective territories to giving them their quotas to setting performance goals for the company. You will also be responsible for putting in place a training program for all employees.

Although the scope of your work will depend on the size of the company you work for, your responsibilities will focus on everything about the organization’s sales efforts. Developing marketing plans is an important part of your work as a sales manager. You will come up with strategies to help your sales representatives get new customers and suggest ways to improve how they deal with their clients. Through various metrics, you will also keep track of what customers want so that you can plan how and where to direct the efforts of your sales team.

If you work as a sales manager for a large multinational organization, you will be supervising regional sales managers. You will suggest ways on how they can meet their sales goals and improve their performance if these are necessary. If regional sales teams are doing a good job, you will give them the commendation they deserve so they will be encouraged to do their best and work even harder. In addition to dealing with your subordinates, you may also have to resolve customer complaints in case those below you are not able to address these problems on their own.

To succeed as a sales manager, you need to know how the world of sales works. This means having substantial experience as a sales representative. You also need to possess analytical skills since you will be analyzing data and based on what you find, craft methods to achieve the company’s sales goals. Since this is a supervisory position, you need to possess leadership skills so you can get your subordinates to do their share in helping the company improve its bottom line. You should also be able to communicate well with other people and listen to their concerns so you can get your message across and will know how best to address them.

Why Become A Sales Manager

For those who are committed to a career in the field of sales, being a sales manager is a dream job. It is well-suited for those who thrive in positions of responsibility and leadership. It is also a post that allows them to put their creativity and inventiveness to good use since they will be crafting the sales strategy for the company. On the practical side, this is a post to strive for because sales managers earn six-figure incomes on the average. Since a sales team remains a crucial part of a company’s profits, sales managers are also less-likely to be let go so they can also look forward to a little bit of job stability compared to other managers.

Sales Manager Work Environment

Sales managers work in a variety of settings. They are found mostly in companies engaged in retail and wholesale trading. Manufacturing firms and finance and insurance companies as well as those engaged in the management of companies and enterprises also have need for sales managers. Although the work schedule of sales managers is during regular business hours, the demands of the job make overtime and weekend work common. They also do a lot of travel, especially if the company has local, regional and international offices around the world.

Sales Manager Salary

Sales managers are paid very well for the job they do. The Occupational Employment and Wages report of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal that the mean annual wage of sales managers is $123,150. This compares to the $112,870 a year of advertising and promotions managers, the $133,700 of marketing managers and the $111,260 a year of public relations and fundraising managers.

Highest Paying States For Sales Managers

• 1. New York $95.09 / hr $197,780 / yr
• 2. Delaware $88.62 / hr $184,330 / yr
• 3. Virginia $80.48 / hr $167,400 / yr
• 4. New Jersey $79.70 / hr $165,780 / yr
• 5. Colorado $75.13 / hr $156,280 / yr

Top Paying Cities For Sales Managers

• 1. New York, NY $96.31 / hr$200,320 / yr
• 2. Wilmington, DE $87.28 / hr$181,550 / yr
• 3. Naples, FL $87.19 / hr$181,360 / yr
• 4. California, MD $87.15 / hr$181,280 / yr
• 5. Fort Collins, CO $86.62 / hr$180,170 / yr

Sales Manager Career Outlook

Good job opportunities await aspiring sales managers in the coming years. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected that in the ten-year period covering 2012 to 2022, the employment rate for sales managers is set to grow 8 percent, a rate that is about as fast as the average for all job types. The need for these professionals will stem from the fact that sales teams are necessary for them profit. However, the demand for these professionals will also be dampened if the industry where they are employed in suffers slow growth.

Sales Manager Degree

The entry point towards becoming a sales manager is a bachelor’s degree in such fields as marketing, business, accounting, finance and related areas. Some companies look for managers who have finished postgraduate degrees such as a master’s degree or a master’s in business administration (MBA) degree. Work experience in a related occupation, such as sales representatives, is deemed a very important qualification to become a sales manager. In fact, it is such a crucial requirement that many employees are willing to hire an individual who has substantial work experience in the field of sales even if he has not yet finished his bachelor’s degree.

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