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Sales administrator vs sales manager

The differences between sales administrators 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 sales administrator and a sales manager. Additionally, a sales manager has an average salary of $73,952, which is higher than the $41,404 average annual salary of a sales administrator.

The top three skills for a sales administrator include customer service, sales support and powerpoint. The most important skills for a sales manager are product knowledge, customer satisfaction, and sales performance.

Sales administrator vs sales manager overview

Sales AdministratorSales Manager
Yearly salary$41,404$73,952
Hourly rate$19.91$35.55
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs82,712119,066
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 60%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age4646
Years of experience88

What does a sales administrator do?

A sales administrator supports sales representatives to make customer deals. Aside from that, tasks such as answering customer queries, checking stock availability, processing deliveries, sending out invoices, and maintaining records and databases are a sales administrator's duties. Overall, a sales administrator focuses on orders, communicating to customers via telephone or face-to-face, invoicing, targeting sales, and record keeping.

What does a sales manager do?

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.

Sales administrator vs sales manager salary

Sales administrators and sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Sales AdministratorSales Manager
Average salary$41,404$73,952
Salary rangeBetween $29,000 And $58,000Between $42,000 And $129,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CAJersey City, NJ
Highest paying stateCaliforniaNew Jersey
Best paying companyKLACapgemini
Best paying industryTechnology-

Differences between sales administrator and sales manager education

There are a few differences between a sales administrator and a sales manager in terms of educational background:

Sales AdministratorSales Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 60%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern California

Sales administrator vs sales manager demographics

Here are the differences between sales administrators' and sales managers' demographics:

Sales AdministratorSales Manager
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 21.0% Female, 79.0%Male, 68.7% Female, 31.3%
Race ratioBlack 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 Percentage7%7%

Differences between sales administrator and sales manager duties and responsibilities

Sales administrator example responsibilities.

  • Manage distributor accounts including inventory management, allocations, and communicating internally with purchasing, logistics, finance and shipping departments.
  • Work with operations to expedite deliveries, or track shipments as requested by customer.
  • Confer with sales, shipping, and warehouse to expedite or trace missing or delay shipments.
  • Publish POS materials and create correspondence to distributors for seasonal promotion items.
  • Design and produce consumer/distributor incentive programs, POS materials and retail display systems.
  • Manage distributor accounts including inventory management, allocations, and communicating internally with purchasing, logistics, finance and shipping departments.
  • Show more

Sales manager example responsibilities.

  • Achieve proficiency in multitasking by performing multiple duties and managing differing responsibilities periodically.
  • Manage discount contracts, write up of add-ons, renewals, transfers of equities.
  • Manage and support one of the largest portfolios within the division and the largest in the Americas.
  • Manage website, updating product listings, enhancing SEO positioning, and maintaining overall site appearance and functionality.
  • Launch and manage the Americas outsourcing lead generation and qualification process.
  • Set all promotional activity, introduce new items and manage distributors in select markets.
  • Show more

Sales administrator vs sales manager skills

Common sales administrator skills
  • Customer Service, 37%
  • Sales Support, 13%
  • PowerPoint, 5%
  • Data Entry, 5%
  • CRM, 4%
  • Salesforce, 4%
Common sales manager skills
  • Product Knowledge, 12%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 7%
  • Sales Performance, 6%
  • CRM, 5%
  • Sales Process, 4%
  • Work Ethic, 4%

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