Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between heads of 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 head of sales and a sales manager. Additionally, a head of sales has an average salary of $166,100, which is higher than the $73,952 average annual salary of a sales manager.
The top three skills for a head of sales include CRM, sales strategy and sales organization. The most important skills for a sales manager are product knowledge, customer satisfaction, and sales performance.
| Head Of Sales | Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $166,100 | $73,952 |
| Hourly rate | $79.86 | $35.55 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 112,592 | 119,066 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
The head of sales is primarily responsible for overseeing the sales performance of a company and devising strategies to optimize practices. Their responsibilities typically revolve around monitoring the progress of every sales effort, setting objectives and deadlines, performing research and analysis to identify sales opportunities, and coordinating with different departments to improve procedures and reach sales targets. Furthermore, as the head of sales, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce, 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.
Heads of sales and sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Head Of Sales | Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $166,100 | $73,952 |
| Salary range | Between $110,000 And $248,000 | Between $42,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | Portland, OR | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Vermont | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Flexport | Capgemini |
| Best paying industry | Technology | - |
There are a few differences between a head of sales and a sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Head Of Sales | Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | 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 heads of sales' and sales managers' demographics:
| Head Of Sales | Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.5% Female, 33.5% | 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% |