Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between sales supervisors and sales managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a sales supervisor, becoming a sales manager takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, a sales manager has an average salary of $73,952, which is higher than the $40,860 average annual salary of a sales supervisor.
The top three skills for a sales supervisor include ladders, sales floor and inventory control. The most important skills for a sales manager are product knowledge, customer satisfaction, and sales performance.
| Sales Supervisor | Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $40,860 | $73,952 |
| Hourly rate | $19.64 | $35.55 |
| Growth rate | - | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 424,088 | 119,066 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 43 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 8 |
A sales supervisor is an individual who is responsible for the daily activities of sales representatives in promoting and selling a product by phone or email. He/She needs to track the weekly and monthly performances of his/her sales representatives. The minimum requirement of being a sales supervisor is a high school diploma. However, he/she is required to have two years of working experience. One of the skills required of a sales supervisor is to have the ability to multitask and time management.
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.
Sales supervisors and sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Supervisor | Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $40,860 | $73,952 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $53,000 | Between $42,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | New York | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | ServiceNow | Capgemini |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | - |
There are a few differences between a sales supervisor and a sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Sales Supervisor | Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Delhi | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between sales supervisors' and sales managers' demographics:
| Sales Supervisor | Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 43 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.2% Female, 42.8% | Male, 68.7% Female, 31.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 7.0% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | 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 | 9% | 7% |