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The differences between directors of retail sales 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 director of retail sales and a sales manager. Additionally, a sales manager has an average salary of $73,952, which is higher than the $36,773 average annual salary of a director of retail sales.
The top three skills for a director of retail sales include customer satisfaction, product line and retail sales. The most important skills for a sales manager are product knowledge, customer satisfaction, and sales performance.
| Director Of Retail Sales | Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $36,773 | $73,952 |
| Hourly rate | $17.68 | $35.55 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 180,640 | 119,066 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
A director of retail sales is in charge of spearheading and overseeing retail sales operations, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. They are primarily responsible for setting goals and objectives, supervising product roadmaps, managing budgets, coordinating managers and different departments, and making decisions in adherence to the company's needs. They must also monitor the progress of sales, implementing solutions in problem areas. Furthermore, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage the employees to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
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.
Directors of retail sales and sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Director Of Retail Sales | Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $36,773 | $73,952 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $62,000 | Between $42,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | BlackRock | Capgemini |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | - |
There are a few differences between a director of retail sales and a sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Director Of Retail Sales | Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | 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 directors of retail sales' and sales managers' demographics:
| Director Of Retail Sales | Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 65.1% Female, 34.9% | 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% |