Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between sales managers and senior 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 senior sales manager. Additionally, a senior sales manager has an average salary of $140,662, 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 senior sales manager are customer satisfaction, sales process, and customer service.
| Sales Manager | Senior Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $73,952 | $140,662 |
| Hourly rate | $35.55 | $67.63 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 119,066 | 115,070 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| 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.
Senior sales managers take the lead in handling sales operations in the organization. They supervise the activities performed by the junior sales management team. It is their responsibility to maximize the potential of the sales team, establish sales plans, and justify these plans to superior management. They aim to expand the customer base of the company and its strong presence in the market. The skills these managers should have include leadership, organization, communication, and the ability to recruit talented sales agents.
Sales managers and senior sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Manager | Senior Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $73,952 | $140,662 |
| Salary range | Between $42,000 And $129,000 | Between $95,000 And $206,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Maine |
| Best paying company | Capgemini | Leprino Foods |
| Best paying industry | - | Professional |
There are a few differences between a sales manager and a senior sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Sales Manager | Senior Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between sales managers' and senior sales managers' demographics:
| Sales Manager | Senior Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.7% Female, 31.3% | Male, 61.4% Female, 38.6% |
| 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% |