Outside sales manager vs country manager

The differences between outside sales managers and country managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become an outside sales manager, becoming a country manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a country manager has an average salary of $99,341, which is higher than the $84,408 average annual salary of an outside sales manager.

The top three skills for an outside sales manager include product knowledge, CRM and customer service. The most important skills for a country manager are logistics, business development, and business strategy.

Outside sales manager vs country manager overview

	Outside Sales Manager	Country Manager
Yearly salary	$84,408	$99,341
Hourly rate	$40.58	$47.76
Growth rate	5%	6%
Number of jobs	138,054	309,722
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age	46	44
Years of experience	8	6

What does an outside sales manager do?

An outside sales manager is responsible for monitoring the sales staff performance in selling goods and services to existing and potential clients and ensuring that the team meets sales objectives. Outside sales managers set reasonable sales targets and establish techniques to maximize the staff's efficiency and productivity. They regularly connect with the clients to determine their needs and make any adjustments to business plans as needed. An outside sales manager should have excellent knowledge of the current market trends to identify business opportunities that would generate more revenues and resources.

What does a country manager do?

A Country Manager oversees a company's operations in a different region or country, ensuring corporate expansions run smoothly and efficiently. They are responsible for establishing objectives and guidelines, conducting market research and analysis to find international business and client opportunities, developing strategic plans for revenue growth and brand awareness, and monitoring sales, generating progress reports regularly. Should there be conflicts or issues, it is also their responsibility to resolve them right away. Moreover, a Country Manager leads and encourages staff to reach goals while implementing the company's standards and policies.

Outside sales manager vs country manager salary

Outside sales managers and country managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Outside Sales Manager	Country Manager
Average salary	$84,408	$99,341
Salary range	Between $51,000 And $138,000	Between $56,000 And $173,000
Highest paying City	Albany, NY	New York, NY
Highest paying state	Hawaii	New York
Best paying company	Dominion Enterprises	Genentech
Best paying industry	Finance	Energy

Differences between outside sales manager and country manager education

There are a few differences between an outside sales manager and a country manager in terms of educational background:

	Outside Sales Manager	Country Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Pennsylvania

Outside sales manager vs country manager demographics

Here are the differences between outside sales managers' and country managers' demographics:

	Outside Sales Manager	Country Manager
Average age	46	44
Gender ratio	Male, 79.1% Female, 20.9%	Male, 85.6% Female, 14.4%
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, 15.2% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	10%

Differences between outside sales manager and country manager duties and responsibilities

Outside sales manager example responsibilities.

Manage a team of sales executives to establish and maintain professional relationships with healthcare professionals in their prospective territories.
Develop a complete marketing program where none previously exist, now serves as CRM base for company.
Used CRM tools in order to provide current and detail information relate to activities, opportunity pipeline, and close business.
Channele marketing through the establishment of international distributors servicing Mexico (Hermosillo, Mexicali, and Tijuana) and Korea.
Plan and schedule work perform by HVAC technicians.
Educate and present new approach to facility managers and plant managers including ROI analysis.

Country manager example responsibilities.

Achieve 3pp in EBITDA growth from 2015 and 9pp vs budget.
Manage Striderite's offshore sourcing operations in the Caribbean.
Manage two to four grants annually, totaling 1-2 million USD each year.
Manage billing, payroll, and other necessary fix and variable costs, maintaining profit growth year to year.
Lead internal risk management processes of all in-country associate parties, including final assessments/decisions.
Support search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns.

Outside sales manager vs country manager skills

Common outside sales manager skills

Product Knowledge, 12%
CRM, 10%
Customer Service, 10%
Sales Territory, 7%
Sales Strategies, 4%
Sales Growth, 3%

Common country manager skills

Logistics, 13%
Business Development, 9%
Business Strategy, 8%
Product Development, 7%
Revenue Growth, 6%
Human Resources, 4%

Outside Sales Manager vs. similar jobs

Outside Sales Manager related careers

Outside Sales Manager related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Executive Management Industry
Outside Sales Manager
Outside Sales Manager vs Country Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse executive management jobs