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The differences between strategic accounts managers and 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 strategic accounts manager and a sales manager. Additionally, a strategic accounts manager has an average salary of $83,574, which is higher than the $73,952 average annual salary of a sales manager.
The top three skills for a strategic accounts manager include account management, healthcare and customer service. The most important skills for a sales manager are product knowledge, customer satisfaction, and sales performance.
| Strategic Accounts Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $83,574 | $73,952 |
| Hourly rate | $40.18 | $35.55 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 141,224 | 119,066 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
A strategic accounts manager is an individual who is responsible for establishing and maintaining productive relationships with new and existing large clients. Strategic accounts managers assign staff members to provide help and support with client accounts and how they can be of service to the clients. They are required to create an appropriate sales strategy for each of their clients and identify needs. Strategic accounts manager must also create comprehensive reports on client sales and strategy to their upper 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.
Strategic accounts managers and sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Strategic Accounts Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $83,574 | $73,952 |
| Salary range | Between $51,000 And $135,000 | Between $42,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | VMware | Capgemini |
| Best paying industry | Technology | - |
There are a few differences between a strategic accounts manager and a sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Strategic Accounts Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between strategic accounts managers' and sales managers' demographics:
| Strategic Accounts Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.2% Female, 31.8% | Male, 68.7% Female, 31.3% |
| 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% |