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The differences between client managers and sales managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a client manager and a sales manager. Additionally, a client manager has an average salary of $88,768, which is higher than the $73,952 average annual salary of a sales manager.
The top three skills for a client manager include customer service, account management and client facing. The most important skills for a sales manager are product knowledge, customer satisfaction, and sales performance.
| Client Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $88,768 | $73,952 |
| Hourly rate | $42.68 | $35.55 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 118,707 | 119,066 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
A client manager acts as a liaison between the company and its clients. You are expected to ensure client satisfaction and excellent customer service. Your duties typically include managing client relationships, delivering proposals, and developing account plans. In addition, you are responsible for improving customer experience, communicating with customers and answering their inquiries, and managing and resolving conflicts. As a client manager, you are expected to supervise clients and internal teams, lead the execution of projects, and to work with clients and partner agencies in developing business objectives.
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.
Client managers and sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Client Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $88,768 | $73,952 |
| Salary range | Between $59,000 And $132,000 | Between $42,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Baker McKenzie | Capgemini |
| Best paying industry | Technology | - |
There are a few differences between a client manager and a sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Client Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between client managers' and sales managers' demographics:
| Client Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 47.8% Female, 52.2% | Male, 68.7% Female, 31.3% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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 | 7% | 7% |