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The differences between sales managers and commercial 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 manager and a commercial sales manager. Additionally, a commercial sales manager has an average salary of $90,126, 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 commercial sales manager are customer service, sales targets, and CRM.
| Sales Manager | Commercial Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $73,952 | $90,126 |
| Hourly rate | $35.55 | $43.33 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 119,066 | 144,012 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
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.
Commercial sales managers have various duties and responsibilities. These include managing marketing campaigns via phone, direct mail, and the internet, supervising the sales executive teams to develop and maintaining good relations with healthcare professionals, and managing client relationships and identifying opportunities for new business. Additional duties include evaluating supply chain and logistics infrastructure, negotiating contract terms, and bidding on new projects. Commercial sales managers are also responsible for overseeing the company's business growth, identifying areas that can be developed, and generating quotes for prospective customers.
Sales managers and commercial sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Manager | Commercial Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $73,952 | $90,126 |
| Salary range | Between $42,000 And $129,000 | Between $56,000 And $142,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | Newark, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Pennsylvania |
| Best paying company | Capgemini | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | - | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a sales manager and a commercial sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Sales Manager | Commercial Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between sales managers' and commercial sales managers' demographics:
| Sales Manager | Commercial Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.7% Female, 31.3% | Male, 83.4% Female, 16.6% |
| 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, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |