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Indirect Sales Manager skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted Experts

Adry S. Clark Ph.D.,

Andrea Dixon Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical indirect sales manager skills. We ranked the top skills for indirect sales managers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 25.3% of indirect sales manager resumes contained indirect sales as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an indirect sales manager needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 indirect sales manager skills for your resume and career

1. Indirect Sales

Here's how indirect sales managers use indirect sales:

Established and maintained relationships while growing the indirect sales channel through development of competitive strategies.
Revamped and managed the Indirect Sales Channel, producing over 10,000 gross additional accounts in less than two years.

2. Business Development

Business development is the ideas or initiatives that work to make business work better. Selling, advertising, product development, supply chain management, and vendor management are only a few of the divisions involved with it. There is still a lot of networking, negotiating, forming alliances, and trying to save money. The goals set for business development guide and coordinate with all of these various operations and sectors.

Here's how indirect sales managers use business development:

Focused on acquiring local & national agent distributors & cultivating strategic partnerships to accelerate business development for the company.
Coordinated with business development organization to launch yearly win-back offerings.

3. Indirect Channel

Here's how indirect sales managers use indirect channel:

Conceptualized and implemented sales strategies and training on Sprint partner program toward the attainment of indirect channel goals for the corporation.
Served as the Training Subject Matter Expert for the Indirect Channel and co-created the GREAT Sales training for Indirect Dealers.

4. Direct Sales

Here's how indirect sales managers use direct sales:

Established and nurtured strategic alliances while implementing direct sales strategy for wholesale partners dispersed across a 10-state region.
Managed the indirect, retail, and direct sales channels for the Central Texas markets.

5. Sales Objectives

Here's how indirect sales managers use sales objectives:

Established operational objectives and work plans to ensure attainment of the established sales objectives.
Develop and maintain all other sales objectives including Churn, Service Excellence & CPGA.

6. Dealer Channel

Here's how indirect sales managers use dealer channel:

Help to bridge relationships between the dealer channel and T-Mobile corporate retail resulting in becoming a liaison between the two channels.
Managed merchandising support for dealer channel, through corporate plan grams, and insuring Brand compliance at all levels.

7. Account Executives

Account executives help build good relationships with new and existing clients. They interact with brand teams and clients, making them the point of contact. A sales development representative responsibilities entail facilitating sales, generating potential leads, and referring customers to the best salesperson. To succeed in this job post, you need to have the best customer service, math, analytical, interpersonal, and communication skills. A bachelor's degree in business marketing, sales, or a similar field fits this role.

Here's how indirect sales managers use account executives:

Mentored account executives in techniques of cold calling, prospecting, generating referrals, and retaining and maintaining accounts.
Train Indirect Account Executives and Indirect Account Associates to create business plans with their accounts.

8. Retail Sales

Retail sales are the method to track consumer demand for finished goods by assessing the purchases of durable and non-durable products over a definite period. Data on retail sales is accumulated monthly by the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

Here's how indirect sales managers use retail sales:

Assist in hiring and training direct and retail sales force to launch a new product in a large market.
Supported the retail sales organization with enhancements to point of sales and back end IT systems.

9. Sales Management

Here's how indirect sales managers use sales management:

Spearhead sales management functions encompassing strategy development, quota setting and distribution planning, forecasting and budgeting.
Assisted distributors with marketing and advertising, sales management and business planning.

10. Retail Locations

A retail location is an area or space for business purposes. Small business often looks for a retail establishment that has a lower leasing fee. Depending on what type of business they will venture into, a retail location must always be accessible to customers, efficient, and cheap. It usually is one of the struggles of business owners, finding the right place for their business.

Here's how indirect sales managers use retail locations:

Hired and trained statewide sales force assigned to retail locations.
Serviced 50- 60 active retail locations and prospected new partners/clients.

11. Business Relationships

Here's how indirect sales managers use business relationships:

Developed superior business relationships with multiple national retailers including Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, Costco and Radio Shack.
Managed five vendor/wholesaler business relationships on a local level to support and meet channel sales goals and objectives.

12. Sales Associates

Here's how indirect sales managers use sales associates:

Ensured sales quota for each store and sales associates were met through inside sales.
Introduced and implemented various contests and incentives for sales associates as additional motivational tools to increase sales, productivity and morale.

13. Co-Op

A co-op is an organization that is owned and controlled by its members and that operates for the benefit of its members. In other words, co-ops are made up of people who have a specific need and are willing to work together to run and organize a business that meets those needs. The members of the co-op own, control and use the products and services of the cooperative.

Here's how indirect sales managers use co-op:

Administer Account Co-op and Contract compliance.
Worked with Dealers using Co-Op funding.

14. Sales Channels

Here's how indirect sales managers use sales channels:

Developed and grew the business agent sales channel for 6 consecutive years with 75 agent partners and 7 wireless carriers.
Mentored partner sales representatives and management to ensure consistency in sales and marketing messaging throughout the sales channel.

15. Sales Training

Here's how indirect sales managers use sales training:

Consult with agents on marketing, sales training, special promotions, advertising and special Centennial Wireless roll-outs.
Developed 35 active and diverse dealers by presenting sales training to increase the productivity and revenue.

What skills help Indirect Sales Managers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on Indirect Sales Manager resumes?

Adry S. Clark Ph.D.

Director, Western Oregon University

The skills that stand out on resumes fall into two categories: 1) Skills required to do the job and 2) Skills almost all employers look for. The most important aspect of resumes is to make sure it reflects exactly what the employer needs. Study the job description, identify key skills, and have them reflected on your resume. Think about transferrable skills, not the specific roles you've had.

Most employers look for skills such as communication (written/oral), flexibility, proactivity, problem-solving, project management, and technical. Make sure to cultivate those skills in whatever role you have, and have examples that demonstrate those skills.

What soft skills should all Indirect Sales Managers possess?

Andrea Dixon Ph.D.

Executive Director, Center for Professional Selling, Frank and Floy Smith Holloway Endowed Professorship in Marketing, President, University Sales Center Alliance 2019-2021, Baylor University

Since sales professionals have a lot of information available to them today via customer relationship management (CRM) systems, the sales manager's "supervisory" role is less important (especially for experienced sellers). Consequently, the sales manager needs to be more of a coach and enabler of high performance. Having confidence balanced with humility allows the sales manager to engage more effectively with their salespeople.
One of the critical soft skills for sales managers going forward will be the ability to connect members of the sales team to others in the organization - in other words, the sales manager of the future needs to have strong skills in network building for others. Sellers have access to data which helps them build success.
They also need access to the right people to turn to when they need specific expertise or assistance.

What hard/technical skills are most important for Indirect Sales Managers?

Andrea Dixon Ph.D.

Executive Director, Center for Professional Selling, Frank and Floy Smith Holloway Endowed Professorship in Marketing, President, University Sales Center Alliance 2019-2021, Baylor University

One of the growing technical skill requirements for sales managers is in the area of data analytics. Our performance and customer systems provide a myriad of data, and the role of the sales manager is to be a sense-maker of that mound of data. What are the implications for changes in strategy or behavior evident in last quarter's activity? How can the sales manager help a specific seller "see" where the data suggest new approaches?

What Indirect Sales Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Kerri Orders

Assistant Professor of Business, Aquinas College

In terms of a gap year, I recommend that international business students acquire tangible skills, relevant experience and/or certifications which will enhance their success in their desired area of interest. For example, a gap year could consist of gaining technical or digital training overseas, which would also further the students' cultural intelligence and language proficiency. These types of enriching gap year experiences will assist students to distinguish themselves in a highly competitive market. Furthermore, students should focus on broadening and maintaining their global network during a gap year in order to be ready for the job market once the gap year is concluded.

What type of skills will young Indirect Sales Managers need?

Michael Mikitka

Executive Vice President, MHI – Material Handling Industry

Courses and internships are essential. While the required depth of knowledge may vary from one position to another, employers are generally looking for candidates with strong "people-related" skills, those who are willing to continue to learn, and those with the ability to be flexible and adapt.

By "people-related" skills, I mean the abilities associated with effective communication (listen and express ideas and direction) and the skills related to working independently and a team.

As for the interest to continually learn... from a technology, data, and equipment perspective, today's supply chain looks very different than it did 10-years ago. The willingness and ability to continually learn are essential for anyone in a leadership role.

As for flexibility and adapting...supply chain/logistics is as much about responding to disruption and demand as it is planning for it. There is a predictable demand (i.e., seasonal...everyone knows when back-to-school shopping begins). Then there is the unpredictable demand (i.e., power-outages, wildfires, pandemic) that impact market and the ability to operate. Candidates that express flexibility and problem-solving skills will be much sought-after.

Do you want to know more?

List of indirect sales manager skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for an indirect sales manager resume and required skills for an indirect sales manager to have include:

Indirect Sales
Business Development
Indirect Channel
Direct Sales
Sales Objectives
Dealer Channel
Account Executives
Retail Sales
Sales Management
Retail Locations
Business Relationships

Sales Associates
Co-Op
Sales Channels
Sales Training
Sales Performance
Direct Reports
Retail Store
Sales Strategies
Sales Results
Sales Programs
Shack

Sales Growth
Arpu
Revenue Growth
Sales Targets
Dealer Locations
Product Knowledge
Market Penetration
YOY
Indirect Account
Incentive Programs
Nextel

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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