Photo: Petiatil (CC BY-SA 3.0 us)
Job description
Supervisors keep records on purchases, sales, and requisitions, attend company meetings to coordinate with other departments, and directly oversee employees handling sales, inventory, or cash reconciliation. Depending on the employer, the role can extend into budgeting, accounting, or other management duties beyond pure supervision. It's an indoor, climate-controlled job that typically requires a bachelor's degree, reflecting the added budget and personnel responsibility layered on top of day-to-day supervision.
Pros
- High upside earning potential, up to $164k, among the highest ceilings in this batch
- Leadership role overseeing a team rather than individual quota-driven sales
- Indoor, climate-controlled work with a large number of positions (24,800) nationwide
Cons
- Above-average hours, more than a standard 40-hour work week
- Slower than average projected job growth, essentially flat over the next decade
- Fast-paced deadlines and constant complaint resolution add day-to-day pressure
A typical day
The sales manager's Monday starts with the pipeline review: each rep walks their deals, and the manager probes the soft spots — a stalled contract, a competitor undercutting on price — assigning next moves. Late morning is a ride-along coaching call with a newer rep, where the manager stays silent until the debrief, then rebuilds the discovery questions that were missed. The afternoon holds territory planning, a pricing exception decision, and an interview for an open seat. The month's number hangs over everything, and the manager's real job is simple to say and hard to do: make each rep measurably better than last quarter.
Tasks at the job
- Listen to and resolve customer complaints regarding services, products, or personnel.
- Keep records pertaining to purchases, sales, and requisitions.
- Attend company meetings to exchange product information and coordinate work activities with other departments.
- Direct and supervise employees engaged in sales, inventory-taking, reconciling cash receipts, or performing specific services.
- Plan and prepare work schedules, and assign employees to specific duties.
- Monitor sales staff performance to ensure that goals are met.
Workplace & working conditions
Work happens indoors in a climate-controlled setting.
The pace is often fast, with real time pressure to meet deadlines, 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, and almost all of the work is done as part of a team.
Education necessary or common
Bachelor's degree
Common college majors
Licenses & certifications
- Industry-specific licenses where applicable (insurance, real estate, securities)
- Sales methodology certifications (employer-provided)
Career path
Related fields
Courses to take
- Public Speaking — the foundational sales skill
- AP Psychology — buying decisions and coaching both run on it
- Business/Marketing — pipeline, territory, and margin concepts
- AP Statistics — forecasting a quarter is an estimation problem
- English/Composition — proposals and follow-ups that close
Clubs, activities & competitions
- DECA — sales role-play events are direct practice
- FBLA business competitions
- Any fundraising leadership role — selling with a team and a target
- Debate — persuasion with structure
First steps you can take now
- Sell something real: fundraising, a summer sales job, or your own small venture
- Compete in a DECA sales role-play this year
- Read one classic sales book (SPIN Selling) and practice its questions
- Interview a sales manager about what separates their best reps
