How To Become An Executive Sales Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is an executive sales manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Bill Thorne,

Felicia Hodges

Executive sales managers lead a sales team by providing guidance, training, and mentorship, setting sales quotas and goals, creating sales plans, analyzing data, assigning sales territories, and building their team. Their primary function is to offer goods and services to customers so their companies can turn a profit.

Executive sales managers are responsible for a variety of tasks. Beyond maintaining their own book of clients, they play a critical role in the success and development of their sales rep by supporting project fulfillment, monitoring the competitive landscape, and analyzing overall performance metrics.

A high school diploma or G.E.D is what most employers require. However, a bachelor's in marketing and business-related field may be given preference. Proven work experience in sales and management of over five years is essential as well.

With regards to salary, the average hourly wage is $59.25. This amounts to over $123,000 annually. The career is projected to experience 5% growth in the coming years.

What general advice would you give to an executive sales manager?

Bill Thorne

Executive Director of the NRF Foundation and Senior Vice President of Communication and Public Affairs of NRF, National Retail Federation

Retail is the largest private-sector employer in the country, directly employing 32 million people and supporting 52 million jobs overall - roughly one-quarter of the U.S. workforce. While COVID-19 has presented new and unexpected challenges, retailers have continued to showcase the industry's resilience and adaptability time and again. The safety and security of customers and employees remains our greatest priority. It is no doubt that the professional environment has changed this year, but retail continues to offer a plethora of career opportunities for graduates and seasoned veterans alike.

ScoreExecutive Sales ManagerUS Average

Salary

8.0

Avg. Salary $115,692

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.24%

Asian 4.07%

Black or African American 3.24%

Hispanic or Latino 9.82%

Unknown 4.41%

White 78.23%

Gender

female 39.42%

male 60.58%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an executive sales manager

Explore executive sales manager education requirements

Most common executive sales manager degrees

Bachelor's

71.8 %

Associate

12.1 %

Master's

7.0 %

Start to develop specific executive sales manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	36.99%
Sales Process	11.43%
Sales Presentations	8.99%
Product Knowledge	7.26%
Drive Sales	4.22%

Complete relevant executive sales manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New executive sales managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an executive sales manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real executive sales manager resumes.

Research executive sales manager duties and responsibilities

Leverage other sales office resources and administrative/support staff to achieve personal and team relate revenue goals.
Launch sales initiative for start-up company with unique delivery method for continuing medical education programs targeting physicians and other healthcare professionals.
Recommend products and services to maximize customer service and target upselling on each customer contact.

Get executive sales manager experience

Generally, it takes 6-8 years to become an executive sales manager. The most common roles before becoming an executive sales manager include account executive, sales manager team lead and sales representative.

Prepare your executive sales manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your executive sales manager resume.

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