What does a sales leader do?

A Sales Leader's responsibility is more than just leading. Most of the tasks involve monitoring the progress of sales, creating strategies to attain financial gains, managing the workforce, and as well as suggesting and enforcing particular options that would be beneficial for the sales and the company. All while making sure that all actions adhere to the policies and standards of the company. Above all, a Sale's Leader must have the passion and determination to drive a team towards the company's goal.
Sales leader responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real sales leader resumes:
- Manage to sales KPI's (including sales and expense budget numbers), assuring efficient and effective use of resources.
- Manage all lead activity for a specific vertical sales territory, identifying opportunities and engaging appropriate field sales representatives.
- Provide excellent customer service, operate cash register, offer product and pet knowledge.
- Charge with training new associates for visual updates, stock processing, client experience, product knowledge, and POS.
- Assist with payroll and timekeeping duties.
- Interact with kids while the parents are shopping.
- Clean, stock and maintain a pet supplies store.
- Have skill in the use of manual dollies, electric jacks and hand.
- Be able to effectively use math skills in order to determine qualifying loan values.
- Coach role models to also help them engage with costumers and kids throw out the store.
- Resolve customer issues by using conflict management skills and resourcefulness to find solutions for the customer.
- Coach employees on a daily basis to meet sales goals and personal goals as a CSL.
- Transfer merchandise to proper location with the use of hand trucks, u boats, etc.
- Show and sea trial boats after price negotiation are settled, all sales are final per sea trials.
- Assist manager with scheduling, marketing and training/hiring associates, creating sales goals for associates, monitoring KPI's for associate
Sales leader skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Sales Leaders are proficient in Product Knowledge, Customer Service, and Sales Floor. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Sales Leaders that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Product Knowledge, 10%
Provided technical support based on in-depth product knowledge to other associates and customers on all exercise/fitness and bike merchandise.
- Customer Service, 10%
Communicated product differentiation emphasizing diverse product offering, customer service, quality, warranty, total delivered cost.
- Sales Floor, 9%
Maintained visibility on the sales floor, actively engaging customers and assisting associates with all escalated customer challenges.
- Store Management, 6%
Increased unit per transaction in department Communicated to store management any missed sales due to product Trained associates on proper merchandising standards
- Loss Prevention, 6%
Investigated cases of potential fraud, providing documentation to internal loss prevention team and external law enforcement.
- Customer Satisfaction, 5%
Supported immediate supervisor in the Accessory Department with primary emphasis on selling, sales leadership, customer satisfaction and merchandise presentation.
Most sales leaders use their skills in "product knowledge," "customer service," and "sales floor" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential sales leader responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a sales leader to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "sales managers must collect and interpret complex data to target the most promising geographic areas and demographic groups, and determine the most effective sales strategies." Sales leaders often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provide store management competitive shopping data. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform sales leader duties is communication skills. Sales leaders responsibilities require that "sales managers need to work with colleagues and customers, so they must be able to communicate clearly." Sales leaders also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "maintain daily communication with brand store operations partners and field leaders (regional/district managers) across the country. "
Leadership skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of sales leaders is leadership skills. This skill is critical to many everyday sales leader duties, as "sales managers must be able to evaluate how their sales staff performs and must develop strategies for meeting sales goals." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "leveraged strong leadership skills to lead sales associates and supervised the daily store operations while store manager was absent. "
Customer-service skills. For certain sales leader responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "customer-service skills." The day-to-day duties of a sales leader rely on this skill, as "when helping to make a sale, sales managers must listen and respond to the customer’s needs." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what sales leaders do: "direct and supervise employees engaged in sales, inventory-taking, reconciling cash receipts, or in performing services for customers. "
The three companies that hire the most sales leaders are:
- Chico's FAS1,020 sales leaders jobs
- The Journeys School853 sales leaders jobs
- Chico Hot Springs534 sales leaders jobs
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Sales leader vs. Assistant store manager of sales
Assistant store managers of sales are executive professionals who are responsible for assisting store managers in supervising staff members as well as store operations. These assistant managers are required to provide excellent customer service and store management to meet the company standard in the overall store presentation. They must develop and implement company policies and procedures so that they can achieve high-quality products and customer service consistently. These assistant managers are also required to monitor budget and payroll records while reviewing financial transactions to ensure that expenditures are authorized.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a sales leader are more likely to require skills like "store management," "cash handling," "cash receipts," and "merchandise flow." On the other hand, a job as an assistant store manager of sales requires skills like "sales training," "business results," "retail sales," and "store standards." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
The education levels that assistant store managers of sales earn slightly differ from sales leaders. In particular, assistant store managers of sales are 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a sales leader. Additionally, they're 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Sales leader vs. Assistant manager, sales
An assistant sales manager assists the sales manager in supervising the daily store operations. It is their responsibility to develop strategies to improve the store's profit, effectively resolve client's issues, and manage the recruitment of sales staff. They need to train and guide the sales staff to learn sales strategies to enhance their sales performance. Assistant sales managers must have strong management and leadership skills so they can do the duties of the sales managers in case of their absence. Candidates applying for the job should have excellent customer service skills and relevant experience in sales.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, sales leader responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "store management," "store associates," "drive sales," and "cash handling." Meanwhile, an assistant manager, sales has duties that require skills in areas such as "retail sales," "sales training," "strong analytical," and "powerpoint." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, assistant managers, sales achieve similar levels of education than sales leaders. They're 0.9% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Sales leader vs. Co-manager
A co-manager's role is to supervise business operations and perform administrative tasks as support to a manager. One of the primary functions of a co-manager is to delegate tasks of team members and arrange schedules. They also evaluate progress, produce the necessary documentation, maintain a record of data, identify issues and opportunities, and assist in coordinating with other employees. A co-manager may also have the task of hiring and training new workforce members, enforcing policies and regulations at all times.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, sales leaders are more likely to have skills like "store management," "cash receipts," "security practices," and "kids." But a co-manager is more likely to have skills like "food safety," "perform routine maintenance," "ladders," and "human resources."
Most co-managers achieve a similar degree level compared to sales leaders. For example, they're 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Sales leader vs. Senior sales associate
A senior sales associate is responsible for overseeing the operations in a retail establishment's sales floor. They reach out to customers and respond to inquiries, help them obtain the product they are looking for, or recommend other goods should it be necessary. As a senior sales associate, they are in charge of mentoring less experienced colleagues and shaping them into more competent workforce members. They must also implement sales policies and regulations, devise strategies to reach sales targets, find new opportunities to strengthen client base, produce reports, and maintain inventory.
Types of sales leader
Updated January 8, 2025











