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The differences between national sales managers and general managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become a national sales manager, becoming a general manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a national sales manager has an average salary of $102,742, which is higher than the $71,581 average annual salary of a general manager.
The top three skills for a national sales manager include customer service, product development and trade shows. The most important skills for a general manager are customer service, cleanliness, and food safety.
| National Sales Manager | General Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $102,742 | $71,581 |
| Hourly rate | $49.40 | $34.41 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 94,554 | 442,690 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.25 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Average age | 46 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 6 |
A national sales manager is responsible for leading a large group of sales teams, monitoring sales performance, and implementing strategic sales procedures to drive revenues and achieve the organization's profitability goals. National sales managers identify business opportunities by analyzing current market trends and closing business partnerships to boost the company's brand popularity and attract more customers. They also monitor marketing strategies and negotiate continuous agreements with existing customers to keep them purchasing the company's services. A national sales manager creates sales forecasts, ensuring that the services provided by the organization align with the standard budget goals.
A general manager is responsible for handling the overall operations in the business. General managers manage the staff tasks efficiently, monitor the productivity and efficiency of the work environment, implement new strategies to improve the business performance, recognize the team's best efforts, and effective allocation of budget resources. A general manager must have excellent communication, decision-making, and critical-thinking skills to identify areas of improvement in handling customer complaints, connecting with vendors and other lines of businesses that will direct the company towards its successful objectives.
National sales managers and general managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| National Sales Manager | General Manager | |
| Average salary | $102,742 | $71,581 |
| Salary range | Between $67,000 And $155,000 | Between $40,000 And $126,000 |
| Highest paying City | Hartford, CT | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | NetApp | NVIDIA |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a national sales manager and a general manager in terms of educational background:
| National Sales Manager | General Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between national sales managers' and general managers' demographics:
| National Sales Manager | General Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.4% Female, 19.6% | Male, 70.7% Female, 29.3% |
| 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, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 10% |