How to Become a Sales Manager
What is a Sales Manager
If you thrive on being in charge of a team, then you might consider becoming a sales manager. In this position organization is everything. To ensure your team is running efficiently, you'll want to establish organization right off the bat.
Sometimes you'll be required to travel, that's just the nature of the job. In most situations, you'll only be working 40 hours a week, but since you're a sales manager, you'll probably have some weekends where you'll have to work a little extra.
Sales managers typically earn a bachelor's degree and have some work experience before becoming a sales manager. If nothing else, you'll want to be able to prove that you're a natural salesperson because a lot of your job requires you to train your team on how to attract and maintain customers.
What Does a Sales Manager Do
Sales managers direct organizations' sales teams. They set sales goals, analyze data, and develop training programs for organizations’ sales representatives.
How To Become a Sales Manager
Most sales managers have a bachelor’s degree and work experience as a sales representative.
EducationMost sales managers have a bachelor’s degree, although some have a master’s degree. Educational requirements are less strict for job candidates who have significant work experience. Courses in business law, management, economics, accounting, finance, mathematics, marketing, and statistics are advantageous.
Work Experience in a Related OccupationWork experience is typically required for someone to become a sales manager. The preferred duration varies, but employers usually seek candidates who have at least 1 to 5 years of experience in sales.
Sales managers typically enter the occupation from other sales and related occupations, such as sales representatives or purchasing agents. In small organizations, the number of sales manager positions often is limited, so advancement for sales workers usually comes slowly. In large organizations, promotion may occur more quickly.
Important QualitiesAnalytical skills. 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.
Communication skills. Sales managers need to work with colleagues and customers, so they must be able to communicate clearly.
Customer-service skills. When helping to make a sale, sales managers must listen and respond to the customer’s needs.
Leadership skills. Sales managers must be able to evaluate how their sales staff performs and must develop strategies for meeting sales goals.
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Sales Manager Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of Director Of Sales you might progress to a role such as Senior Sales Director eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title Senior Sales Director.
Sales Manager Jobs You Might Like
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Average Salary for a Sales Manager
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12 Sales Manager Resume Examples
Build a professional sales manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 12+ resume templates to create your sales manager resume.
Alexander Snyder Sales Manager |
Wayne Andrews Sales Manager Experience Sales Manager2017 - Present Circuit City•Richmond, VA
Consultant2015 - 2017 SAP America•Palo Alto, CA
Sales Consultant2013 - 2015 AT&T•Dallas, TX
Sales Professional2011 - 2013 Verizon•Irvine, CA
Skills VisioSales GoalsCommunicationCRMLinuxSEORetail SalesHealthcareCustomer RelationsPOS Education Bachelor's Degree Business2003 - 2006 Ashford University•San Diego, CA |
Learn How To Write a Sales Manager Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Sales Manager resumes and compiled some information about how to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Sales Manager Resume Examples And TemplatesAnd if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Choose From 10+ Customizable Sales Manager Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Sales Manager templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Sales Manager resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Sales Manager Demographics
Sales Manager Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among Sales Managers, 31.3% of them are women, while 68.7% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among Sales Managers is White, which makes up 82.7% of all Sales Managers.
- The most common foreign language among Sales Managers is Spanish at 53.1%.
Find the best Sales Manager job for you
Sales Manager Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Sales Manager Jobs - $139K and Up
- Work From Home Sales Manager Jobs
- Entry Level Sales Manager Jobs
- Part Time Sales Manager Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Sales Manager Jobs
Top Colleges for Sales Managers
1. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
2. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Private
3. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
4. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Private
5. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, VA • Private
6. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
7. Ohio State University
Columbus, OH • Private
8. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
9. University of Houston
Houston, TX • Private
10. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
Find the best Sales Manager job for you
Sales Manager Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Sales Manager Jobs - $139K and Up
- Work From Home Sales Manager Jobs
- Entry Level Sales Manager Jobs
- Part Time Sales Manager Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Sales Manager Jobs
Online Courses For Sales Manager That You May Like
Lead Generation and pre-sales skills: Learn lead generation, introducing yourself & qualifying your lead in 3 hours...
The Ultimate Sales Methodology for Business Development & B2B Sales to Learn Sales Strategy, Sales Skills & Deal Closing...
Sales Hacking: Essential sales skills, sales strategies and sales techniques to sell just about anything!...
Top Skills For a Sales Manager
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 21.5% of Sales Managers listed Sales Goals on their resume, but soft skills such as Analytical skills and Communication skills are important as well.
Best States For a Sales Manager
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a Sales Manager. The best states for people in this position are Vermont, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. Sales Managers make the most in Vermont with an average salary of $129,591. Whereas in New Jersey and New York, they would average $128,831 and $124,196, respectively. While Sales Managers would only make an average of $121,610 in Connecticut, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New Jersey
$128,831
Avg. Salary
2. New York
$124,196
Avg. Salary
3. Connecticut
$121,610
Avg. Salary
How Do Sales Manager Rate Their Jobs?
5.0
5.0
Internet Sales Manager • January 2020What do you like the most about working as Sales Manager?
Coming in contact with people, motivating staff, making the numbers, profitability for everyone Show MoreWhat do you NOT like?
I like everything Show More5.0
5.0
Salesmanager life • October 2019What do you like the most about working as Sales Manager?
Working and meeting new people. Helping customers with their purchases. Helping employees better themselves and their sales processes. Show MoreWhat do you NOT like?
Nothing Show More5.0
5.0
New Day New Goal (NDNG) • July 2019What do you like the most about working as Sales Manager?
I always like the challenging and competitive environment which strengthen our skills and develop new leaders. Show MoreWhat do you NOT like?
I don't like Infiltration which is common in Asian countries. Show MoreTop Sales Manager Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ Sales Managers and discovered their number of Sales Manager opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Macy's was the best, especially with an average salary of $50,825. Aaron's follows up with an average salary of $63,146, and then comes Rent-A-Center with an average of $47,130. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a Sales Manager. The employers include Humana, Gartner, and Tech Data
What are the best companies to work for a Sales Manager?
Heath Weber
Assoc Dean for Performing Arts, Morningside College
Morningside grads in MUED have been consistently placed in school districts all over the state. We have recent grads in High School, Middle School, and Elementary music positions in the Sioux City Community Schools, Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools, Ankeny Schools, and many many other school districts across the state and region. Students also are well prepared for graduate study, with many of our recent grads attending graduate study in voice performance, Music Education, and choral or instrumental conducting.Show more
Sales Manager Videos
Becoming a Sales Manager FAQs
Do you need a degree to be a sales manager?
Yes, you need a bachelor's degree to become a sales manager in most cases. Sales managers are typically required to have a bachelor's degree, although some positions may be achievable with only an associate's degree and experience.
How long does it take to become a sales manager?
It takes about six years to become a sales manager. It typically takes a bachelor's degree and multiple years of experience to become a sales manager. This takes about eight years on average to complete their degree program and gain the necessary years of work experience to move into a sales manager role.
How much money do sales managers make a year?
Sales managers make $125,000 a year, on average. Sales managers can make a lot of money due to the combination of high base salaries and opportunities for commissions and bonuses.
While sales managers make a median salary of over $126,000 in a year, the top paid 25 percent make at least $177,000 per year. The lowest-paid 25 percent make $85,000 in a year.
Is it easy to become a sales manager?
No, it is not easy to become a sales manager. Becoming a sales manager is not easy, but it is achievable if a person works hard and is diligent about their goals.
The best way to become a sales manager is to follow a few steps to make you stand out when a promotion is available. A person should make sure that they set and meet aggressive sales goals, proving that they are a top salesperson within their team.
Is sales manager a good career?
Yes, being a sales manager is a good career. Being a sales manager offers a career that pays well, has plenty of room to grow, and offers challenging yet rewarding work for people with the right attitude and skill set.