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The differences between commercial directors and sales managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 8-10 years to become a commercial director, becoming a sales manager takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, a commercial director has an average salary of $143,615, which is higher than the $73,952 average annual salary of a sales manager.
The top three skills for a commercial director include project management, kpis and healthcare. The most important skills for a sales manager are product knowledge, customer satisfaction, and sales performance.
| Commercial Director | Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $143,615 | $73,952 |
| Hourly rate | $69.05 | $35.55 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 97,667 | 119,066 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 39 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 8 |
Commercial Directors are executives who manage the performance and subsequent growth of the company. They lead activities related to the commerce side of the business. Commercial directors study the current trends in both the economic market and in the industry that the business operates in. They also study their target market. With this research, they devise ways to ensure that a company's performance will not decline as they navigate the changing market landscape. Commercial Directors should have good foresight and strong analytical skills to make sense of the current trends and how they would affect their future.
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.
Commercial directors and sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Commercial Director | Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $143,615 | $73,952 |
| Salary range | Between $93,000 And $221,000 | Between $42,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Emergent BioSolutions | Capgemini |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | - |
There are a few differences between a commercial director and a sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Commercial Director | Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between commercial directors' and sales managers' demographics:
| Commercial Director | Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 39 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.9% Female, 19.1% | Male, 68.7% Female, 31.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% 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 | 10% | 7% |