What does a sales supervisor do?
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 supervisor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real sales supervisor resumes:
- Create and lead staff development sessions on solution selling techniques/running effective promotions/POS execution/trade math.
- Train new employees and insurance agents about Medicare and AlohaCare's procedures in promoting its senior plans.
- Assist in visual merchandise, floor moves, inventory, stock, mark downs, POS transactions, online orders and delivery
- Increase availability and visibility of brands on POS of assign territory.
- Approve and reject billing documentation base on Medicare or payer qualifications.
- Certify excellent overall cleanliness of the store to provide customers with exceptional visual presentations and easy-to-navigate store layouts.
- Maintain detailed accountability of valuable jewelry, handle new merchandise, and maintain employee focus on departmental organization and cleanliness.
- Optimize sales leadership and operational excellence.
- Work directly with the jewelry buyer to support department cross-selling initiatives and product training between fine jewelry and designer jewelry.
- Develop many entry level associates to leadership positions
- Specialize in Millwork with additional experience in paint, flooring and home decor.
- Describe product to customers and accurately explain details about DirecTV services.
Sales supervisor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Sales Supervisors are proficient in Ladders, Sales Floor, and Inventory Control. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Math skills, and Persistence.
We break down the percentage of Sales Supervisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Ladders, 18%
Bend and stoop to grasp objects and climb ladders.
- Sales Floor, 10%
Utilized time management and organization skills to replenish sales floor while still providing quality customer service.
- Inventory Control, 7%
Tire Technician Tire Department Supervisor Customer Assistance Installed Tires onto Vehicles Inspected Proper Installation of Tires Translation Services Inventory Control
- Sales Training, 7%
Developed and implemented motivational techniques, sales training and coaching mechanisms to improve performance and ensure quality customer encounters.
- Loss Prevention, 4%
Supervised cashiers to ensure store protocols were followed, specifically customer service and loss prevention guidelines and training.
- Drive Sales, 4%
Managed the operational execution of corporate directives to ensure a positive customer experience and to drive sales.
Common skills that a sales supervisor uses to do their job include "ladders," "sales floor," and "inventory control." You can find details on the most important sales supervisor responsibilities below.
Interpersonal skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a sales supervisor to have is interpersonal skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "a friendly and outgoing personality is important for these workers because the job requires almost constant interaction with people." Sales supervisors often use interpersonal skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provide excellent customer service in a fast-paced retail atmosphere using in-depth product knowledge and interpersonal communication skills. "
Math skills. Many sales supervisor duties rely on math skills. "retail sales workers must have the ability to calculate price totals, discounts, and change owed to customers.," so a sales supervisor will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways sales supervisor responsibilities rely on math skills: "track employee sales performance through reports and statistics. "
Persistence. This is an important skill for sales supervisors to perform their duties. For an example of how sales supervisor responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "a large number of attempted sales may not be successful, so sales workers should not be discouraged easily." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a sales supervisor: "combined patience, determination and persistence to achieve highest total sales volume in the department for 1992. ".
Selling skills. For certain sales supervisor responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "selling skills." The day-to-day duties of a sales supervisor rely on this skill, as "retail sales workers must be persuasive when interacting with customers." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what sales supervisors do: "maintained a professional appearance and exuded leadership by accepting instruction and coaching colleagues on useful sales techniques. "
Customer-service skills. A commonly-found skill in sales supervisor job descriptions, "customer-service skills" is essential to what sales supervisors do. Sales supervisor responsibilities rely on this skill because "retail sales workers must be responsive to the wants and needs of customers." You can also see how sales supervisor duties rely on customer-service skills in this resume example: "demonstrated communication skills and sales techniques for customers interested in merchandise/store products. "
The three companies that hire the most sales supervisors are:
- Kohl's137 sales supervisors jobs
- Steve Madden113 sales supervisors jobs
- Office Depot108 sales supervisors jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable sales supervisor resume templates
Build a professional sales supervisor resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your sales supervisor resume.
Compare different sales supervisors
Sales supervisor vs. Senior sales associate
A senior sales associate is responsible for overseeing the operations in a retail establishment's sales floor. They reach out to customers and respond to inquiries, help them obtain the product they are looking for, or recommend other goods should it be necessary. As a senior sales associate, they are in charge of mentoring less experienced colleagues and shaping them into more competent workforce members. They must also implement sales policies and regulations, devise strategies to reach sales targets, find new opportunities to strengthen client base, produce reports, and maintain inventory.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a sales supervisor are more likely to require skills like "ladders," "drive sales," "basic math," and "sales plan." On the other hand, a job as a senior sales associate requires skills like "phone calls," "persuasion," "retail sales," and "store merchandise." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Senior sales associates really shine in the pharmaceutical industry with an average salary of $58,801. Comparatively, sales supervisors tend to make the most money in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $42,826.On average, senior sales associates reach similar levels of education than sales supervisors. Senior sales associates are 0.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Sales supervisor vs. Lead sales representative
A lead sales representative is responsible for selling goods and services to existing and potential customers through electronic communications and area visits. Lead sales representatives should be highly-knowledgeable of the products that the company offers to discuss and demonstrate the features to the client accurately. They take orders, process orders, and ensure the correct distribution details according to the customers' specifications. A lead sales representative also monitors the team's sales performance and strategize opportunities to maximize selling techniques and increase profitability.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that sales supervisor responsibilities requires skills like "ladders," "sales training," "drive sales," and "basic math." But a lead sales representative might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "medicare," "outbound calls," "customer accounts," and "inbound calls."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Lead sales representatives tend to reach similar levels of education than sales supervisors. In fact, they're 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for sales supervisors in the next 3-5 years?
Bill Thorne
Executive Director of the NRF Foundation and Senior Vice President of Communication and Public Affairs of NRF, National Retail Federation
Sales supervisor vs. Senior sales manager
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.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, sales supervisors are more likely to have skills like "ladders," "sales floor," "loss prevention," and "drive sales." But a senior sales manager is more likely to have skills like "crm," "business development," "digital transformation," and "work ethic."
Senior sales managers make a very good living in the professional industry with an average annual salary of $144,410. On the other hand, sales supervisors are paid the highest salary in the manufacturing industry, with average annual pay of $42,826.When it comes to education, senior sales managers tend to earn higher degree levels compared to sales supervisors. In fact, they're 5.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Sales supervisor vs. Sales lead manager
Even though a few skill sets overlap between sales supervisors and sales lead managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a sales supervisor might have more use for skills like "ladders," "basic math," "customer satisfaction," and "math." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of sales lead managers require skills like "merchandise flow," "payroll," "credit card," and "visual standards. "
In general, sales lead managers hold similar degree levels compared to sales supervisors. Sales lead managers are 0.3% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of sales supervisor
Updated January 8, 2025
