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Direct sales manager vs territory sales manager

The differences between direct sales managers and territory 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 direct sales manager and a territory sales manager. Additionally, a direct sales manager has an average salary of $120,139, which is higher than the $74,356 average annual salary of a territory sales manager.

The top three skills for a direct sales manager include sales professionals, account executives and customer service. The most important skills for a territory sales manager are territory sales, customer service, and healthcare.

Direct sales manager vs territory sales manager overview

Direct Sales ManagerTerritory Sales Manager
Yearly salary$120,139$74,356
Hourly rate$57.76$35.75
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs140,506119,934
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 60%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age4646
Years of experience88

What does a direct sales manager do?

Direct sales managers are individuals who take responsibility for leading and guiding sales people within an organization. It is the job of the sales managers to set the goals and quotas, create sales plans, and analyze data. They assign sales territories and conduct sales training. They serve as mentors for sales team members and involve in the recruitment and dismissal process. Also, they foresee sales and identify product and service profitability for the company.

What does a territory sales manager do?

A territory sales manager is an individual who supervises the daily sales operations of sales representatives that are assigned to a particular location. Territory sales managers are required to meet sales targets to gain an increase in revenues and must maintain excellent customer relationships. They attend trade shows to promote the products and services of the company at the same time, conduct surveys to better understand the needs of their customers. As they are engaged in sales, territory sales managers must possess a bachelor's degree in business administration or management.

Direct sales manager vs territory sales manager salary

Direct sales managers and territory sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Direct Sales ManagerTerritory Sales Manager
Average salary$120,139$74,356
Salary rangeBetween $80,000 And $178,000Between $48,000 And $114,000
Highest paying City-Seattle, WA
Highest paying state-Hawaii
Best paying company-Palo Alto Networks
Best paying industry-Retail

Differences between direct sales manager and territory sales manager education

There are a few differences between a direct sales manager and a territory sales manager in terms of educational background:

Direct Sales ManagerTerritory Sales Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 60%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern California

Direct sales manager vs territory sales manager demographics

Here are the differences between direct sales managers' and territory sales managers' demographics:

Direct Sales ManagerTerritory Sales Manager
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 61.9% Female, 38.1%Male, 75.0% Female, 25.0%
Race ratioBlack 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 Percentage7%7%

Differences between direct sales manager and territory sales manager duties and responsibilities

Direct sales manager example responsibilities.

  • Lead the SEO team and direct all SEO strategies and initiatives.
  • Leverage other sales office resources and administrative/support staff to achieve personal and team relate revenue goals.
  • Conduct direct sales calls to all key accounts, both distributors and chains.
  • Utilize information technology expertise to develop and maintain web presence, create marketing opportunities, CRM management, and increase productivity.
  • Initiate resource selection, pricing, merchandising and promotion for online store utilizing email, SEO, and social media.
  • Develop ROI models to ensure profit hurdles are meet.
  • Show more

Territory sales manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage all the Costco Midwest regional activity.
  • Manage annual marketing budget of $1.0 MM.
  • Manage accounts and territory with CRM software to optimize production
  • Manage process and documentation flow from initial contact through program execution, including timely CRM management.
  • Accomplish this by actively prospecting new business, maintaining accountability on all sales efforts, and actualizing attentiveness to detail.
  • Promote excellent customer satisfaction by focusing efforts on ethics, integrity and dependability.
  • Show more

Direct sales manager vs territory sales manager skills

Common direct sales manager skills
  • Sales Professionals, 17%
  • Account Executives, 14%
  • Customer Service, 8%
  • Sales Management, 7%
  • Payroll, 6%
  • Direct Reports, 4%
Common territory sales manager skills
  • Territory Sales, 11%
  • Customer Service, 9%
  • Healthcare, 6%
  • CRM, 6%
  • Patients, 5%
  • Work Ethic, 5%

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