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The differences between business developers and sales managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a business developer has an average salary of $101,635, which is higher than the $73,952 average annual salary of a sales manager.
The top three skills for a business developer include healthcare, CRM and customer service. The most important skills for a sales manager are product knowledge, customer satisfaction, and sales performance.
| Business Developer | Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $101,635 | $73,952 |
| Hourly rate | $48.86 | $35.55 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 193,469 | 119,066 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Years of experience | - | 8 |
A business developer specializes in conducting in-depth business analysis and crafting various strategies that would not just help a business grow, but also strengthen client base and brand awareness. One of their primary responsibilities revolves around identifying areas in need of improvement. They come up with new services that will boost customer satisfaction, examining the potential for revenue and figuring out new opportunities from trends or other pre-existing programs within the company. All of this is conducted according to the vision, mission, and policies of the organization.
Sales managers are responsible for leading the organization's sales team. They oversee the progress and performance of the whole team, set area assignments to team members, and set weekly or monthly quotas. Sales managers oversee training team members during onboarding and providing further coaching to help them achieve their goals. They manage the challenges that team members may meet and help mitigate any problems that come along the way. Sales managers also set the strategic direction of the sales team and follow through by ensuring that the team's activities are in line with the goals.
Business developers and sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Business Developer | Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $101,635 | $73,952 |
| Salary range | Between $66,000 And $156,000 | Between $42,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Apple | Capgemini |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | - |
There are a few differences between a business developer and a sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Business Developer | Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between business developers' and sales managers' demographics:
| Business Developer | Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 65.8% Female, 34.2% | Male, 68.7% Female, 31.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 7% |