Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between general sales managers and senior 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 general sales manager and a senior sales manager. Additionally, a senior sales manager has an average salary of $140,662, which is higher than the $118,744 average annual salary of a general sales manager.
The top three skills for a general sales manager include customer service, dealership and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a senior sales manager are customer satisfaction, sales process, and customer service.
| General Sales Manager | Senior Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $118,744 | $140,662 |
| Hourly rate | $57.09 | $67.63 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 196,210 | 115,070 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
General sales managers are responsible for monitoring the daily operation of the sales team and analyze marketing strategies to improve sales performance and generate more revenues. General sales managers develop strategic plans, adjust sales quotas as needed, identify business opportunities, research current market trends, and evaluate the annual budget. General sales managers also respond to the customers' inquiries and high-level complaints, providing immediate resolutions to ensure customer satisfaction. A general sales manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills to handle the sales department, especially on sales techniques in reaching the business' profitability goals.
Senior sales managers take the lead in handling sales operations in the organization. They supervise the activities performed by the junior sales management team. It is their responsibility to maximize the potential of the sales team, establish sales plans, and justify these plans to superior management. They aim to expand the customer base of the company and its strong presence in the market. The skills these managers should have include leadership, organization, communication, and the ability to recruit talented sales agents.
General sales managers and senior sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| General Sales Manager | Senior Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $118,744 | $140,662 |
| Salary range | Between $71,000 And $196,000 | Between $95,000 And $206,000 |
| Highest paying City | Westport, CT | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Maine | Maine |
| Best paying company | Meta | Leprino Foods |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Professional |
There are a few differences between a general sales manager and a senior sales manager in terms of educational background:
| General Sales Manager | Senior Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between general sales managers' and senior sales managers' demographics:
| General Sales Manager | Senior Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.5% Female, 14.5% | Male, 61.4% Female, 38.6% |
| 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% |