A sales manager is someone who is responsible for leading and guiding a team of sales people in an organisation. They set sales goals & quotas, build a sales plan, analyse data, assign sales training and sales territories, mentor the members of his/her sales team and are involved in the hiring and firing process.
Sales Managers ultimately drive a company’s revenue engine. They create and nurture high performing sales teams, and guide them in customer service, and lead them to generate hit revenue forecasts.
Looking for Sales Manager jobs? Click here to search.
Responsibilities
A Sales Manager will ultimately play three key roles:
- Managing other people who they will recruit, build and nurture into an ambitious, sales generating team
- Managing customers to increase engagement and service standards
- Managing the relevant business, steering it in the right direction to increase growth and revenue
Breaking down responsibilities, it might look more like this:
- Oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs;
- Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service;
- Prepare budgets and approve budget expenditures;
- Monitor customer preferences to determine the focus of sales efforts;
- Analyse sales statistics;
- Project sales and determine the profitability of products and services;
- Determine discount rates or special pricing plans;
- Plan and coordinate training programs for sales staff.
Other responsibilities might include:
- Setting targets;
- Planning and implementing sales programs;
- Counsel support and discipline sales reps;
- Developing a scalable sales process and ensuring reps adhere to it.
Qualifications
Typical qualifications for a Sales Manager will include:
- Demonstrated track record of meeting/exceeding goals as an individual contributor;
- Successful experience building a territory from little or nothing;
- Skilled at building rapport, opening doors, and understanding business requirements of senior decision makers.
Skills
The types of skills that would be relevant to a Sales Manager role might include:
- Ambition;
- High-achieving;
- Results-oriented attitude;
- Innovative and problem solving with lots of ideas;
- Strong decision maker, basing your decisions on fact, figures and data analysis;
- Following the rules set out to you;
- Attention to detail, methodical and organised;
Average salary
Morgan McKinley set out the typical salary in 2018 for a Sales Manager working in London. The table below shows how the salary could vary depending on experience:
| Role | 0-2 years | 3-4 years | 5-6 years | 7+ years | Head of |
| Sales Management | * | 40,000 – 50,000 | 50,000 – 70,000 | 70,000 – 150,000 | 80,000 – 150,000 |
Searching for Sales Manager roles, but not sure whether your CV is up to the job? Download our helpful CV template to get yours up to scratch. Simply click the button below now.
[simplyjobs site_url=”https://www.simplysalesjobs.co.uk/” placement=”post” site_name=”Simply Sales Jobs” username=”SEO_TEAM” password=”fmgseo” feed_identifier=”blog_ssj_all” ][/simplyjobs]
Easing yourself back in to work after maternity leave
Heading back to work from maternity leave? Rejoining the workplace after a long break can leave you riddled with anxiety!Going back to work after maternity leave is the start of an exciting new chapter for you and your family. It’s an opportunity to...
Why didn’t I get the job?
If your confidence has been knocked after receiving a rejection letter, asking for feedback can help you gain more clarity on the situation. We’re going to walk you through how to ask an employer for feedback, so you can improve and impress at your next...
Ten ways to improve your sales CV
It goes without saying that a brilliant CV will be your ticket to an interview and a great sales job. All the advice from job-hunting experts says spend plenty of time getting your resume right. Don’t be sloppy, try as hard as you can to make yourself stand out from the sales crowd.
