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The differences between general 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 general sales manager and a territory sales manager. Additionally, a general sales manager has an average salary of $118,744, which is higher than the $74,356 average annual salary of a territory sales manager.
The top three skills for a general sales manager include customer service, dealership and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a territory sales manager are territory sales, customer service, and healthcare.
| General Sales Manager | Territory Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $118,744 | $74,356 |
| Hourly rate | $57.09 | $35.75 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 196,210 | 119,934 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| 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.
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.
General sales managers and territory sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| General Sales Manager | Territory Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $118,744 | $74,356 |
| Salary range | Between $71,000 And $196,000 | Between $48,000 And $114,000 |
| Highest paying City | Westport, CT | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Maine | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Meta | Palo Alto Networks |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Retail |
There are a few differences between a general sales manager and a territory sales manager in terms of educational background:
| General Sales Manager | Territory Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| 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 territory sales managers' demographics:
| General Sales Manager | Territory Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.5% Female, 14.5% | Male, 75.0% Female, 25.0% |
| 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% |