Photo: 3ch310n 123 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Job description
Sales managers coordinate distribution and sales activity across regions, setting territories, quotas, and goals, then build the training programs that get sales reps up to speed. They dig into sales statistics and operational reports to project future sales, determine profitability, and figure out inventory needs, while also setting price schedules and discount rates and approving budgets. A meaningful part of the job is also about people: overseeing regional and local sales managers and their teams, and personally stepping in to resolve customer complaints that escalate.
Pros
- Strong pay even at entry level, with top earners reaching $291k
- Faster than average projected job growth (4.7% over the next decade)
- Significant autonomy setting territories, quotas, and pricing strategy
Cons
- Above-average hours, expect more than a standard 40-hour week
- Resolving customer complaints and disputes is a constant, ongoing responsibility
- Compensation and results are closely tied to sales performance, adding pressure to hit targets
A typical day
The Monday pipeline review anchors the week: each rep walks their deals, and the manager's questions are diagnostic — what's the next step, who's the decision-maker, what kills this deal? Coaching happens in the gaps between numbers. Mid-morning is a forecast call with the VP, where the manager commits to a number knowing the quarter will hold them to it. The afternoon holds a ride-along on a rep's big pitch (observing, not rescuing), a hiring interview because the team is one seat short, and a compensation question that requires both spreadsheet and diplomacy. The evening close is territory math for next quarter. The job is leverage: a manager's week is measured in other people's improved weeks.
Tasks at the job
- Direct and coordinate activities involving sales of manufactured products, services, commodities, real estate, or other subjects of sale.
- Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service.
- Review operational records and reports to project sales and determine profitability.
- Oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs.
- Determine price schedules and discount rates.
- Prepare budgets and approve budget expenditures.
Workplace & working conditions
Work happens indoors in a climate-controlled setting.
There's a regular, moderate amount of time pressure, and you're expected to exercise significant independent judgment day to day. You'll regularly deal with frustrated or upset people as part of the job.
Education necessary or common
Bachelor's degree
Common college majors
Career path
Related fields
Courses to take
- Business/Marketing — strategy above the individual sale
- AP Statistics — forecasting and pipeline analytics
- Psychology — motivation is the manager's raw material
- AP English Language — communication up, down, and out
- Economics — market and pricing dynamics
Clubs, activities & competitions
- DECA — management and selling events
- FBLA — leadership roles
- Team captaincy — the leadership reps matter more than the sport
- Fundraising campaign leadership — recruiting and motivating sellers
First steps you can take now
- Lead a fundraising team and coach members individually — management in miniature
- Compete in DECA's sales management-adjacent events
- Read one book on sales management ('The Sales Acceleration Formula' shows the data-driven version)
- Interview a sales manager about what changed when they stopped selling and started managing
