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The differences between sales managers and business development 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 sales manager, becoming a business development manager takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a business development manager has an average salary of $100,769, which is higher than the $73,952 average annual salary of a sales manager.
The top three skills for a sales manager include product knowledge, customer satisfaction and sales performance. The most important skills for a business development manager are customer service, CRM, and healthcare.
| Sales Manager | Business Development Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $73,952 | $100,769 |
| Hourly rate | $35.55 | $48.45 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 119,066 | 215,309 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 46 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 10 |
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.
A business development manager's duties include identifying business opportunities, developing effective models and strategies to improve business performance, searching for potential clients to generate income and attract partnerships. A business development manager must have extensive knowledge of the market trends and adjust strategies as needed to meet the needs of the client. Excellent communication, decision-making, critical thinking, and leadership skills are just some of the key factors that business development managers should possess to communicate and negotiate with the clients.
Sales managers and business development managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Manager | Business Development Manager | |
| Average salary | $73,952 | $100,769 |
| Salary range | Between $42,000 And $129,000 | Between $67,000 And $151,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | California |
| Best paying company | Capgemini | Shearman & Sterling |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a sales manager and a business development manager in terms of educational background:
| Sales Manager | Business Development Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between sales managers' and business development managers' demographics:
| Sales Manager | Business Development Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.7% Female, 31.3% | Male, 68.6% Female, 31.4% |
| 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, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 10% |