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Sales Managers

$130.6K Median Salary 37K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 7% Job Growth

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About This Career

Plan, direct, or coordinate the actual distribution or movement of a product or service to the customer. Coordinate sales distribution by establishing sales territories, quotas, and goals and establish training programs for sales representatives. Analyze sales statistics gathered by staff to determine sales potential and inventory requirements and monitor the preferences of customers.

Reported Job Titles

District Sales Manager, National Sales Manager, Regional Sales Manager, Sales and Marketing Vice President (Sales and Marketing VP), Sales Director, Sales Manager, Sales Supervisor, Sales Vice President (Sales VP)

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Skills You'll Need

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Abilities

Oral Comprehension

Oral Expression

Written Comprehension

Deductive Reasoning

Speech Clarity

Speech Recognition

Written Expression

Fluency of Ideas

Inductive Reasoning

Problem Sensitivity

Originality

Information Ordering

Category Flexibility

Near Vision

Mathematical Reasoning

Number Facility

Memorization

Knowledge

Sales and Marketing

Customer and Personal Service

English Language

Administration and Management

Education and Training

Communications and Media

Computers and Electronics

Mathematics

Personnel and Human Resources

Skills

Persuasion

Active Listening

Speaking

Coordination

Critical Thinking

Negotiation

Reading Comprehension

Service Orientation

Social Perceptiveness

Active Learning

Complex Problem Solving

Judgment and Decision Making

Management of Personnel Resources

Monitoring

Instructing

Systems Analysis

Systems Evaluation

Writing

Time Management

Learning Strategies

Management of Financial Resources

Mathematics

Technology Skills

Enterprise resource planning ERP software

Data base user interface and query software

Customer relationship management CRM software

Development environment software

Business intelligence and data analysis software

Presentation software

Web page creation and editing software

Electronic mail software

Video conferencing software

Cloud-based data access and sharing software

Financial analysis software

Sales and marketing software

Human resources software

Analytical or scientific software

Project management software

Accounting software

Graphics or photo imaging software

Word processing software

Transaction security and virus protection software

Data base reporting software

Calendar and scheduling software

Spreadsheet software

Geographic information system

Enterprise system management software

Document management software

Desktop communications software

Desktop publishing software

Video creation and editing software

Office suite software

Operating system software

Data base management system software

Computer aided design CAD software

Object or component oriented development software

Internet browser software

Cloud-based management software

Data mining software

Web platform development software

Inventory management software

Process mapping and design software

Information retrieval or search software

Tools

Scanners

Notebook computers

Desktop computers

Personal computers

Tablet computers

Abilities

Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.

Knowledge

Sales and Marketing: Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Education and Training: Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Communications and Media: Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Mathematics: Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Personnel and Human Resources: Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

Skills

Persuasion: Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Negotiation: Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Management of Personnel Resources: Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Instructing: Teaching others how to do something.
Systems Analysis: Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Systems Evaluation: Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Learning Strategies: Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Management of Financial Resources: Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
Mathematics: Using mathematics to solve problems.

Technology Skills

Enterprise resource planning ERP software: Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne; Oracle PeopleSoft; Oracle PeopleSoft Financials; SAP software
Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Customer relationship management CRM software: Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge; Microsoft Dynamics; Salesforce.com Salesforce CRM
Development environment software: Adobe Systems Adobe Creative Suite
Business intelligence and data analysis software: BrightEdge; Conductor Searchlight; IBM Digital Analytics; Searchmetrics Suite
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Web page creation and editing software: Facebook; Google Sites; LinkedIn; Social media sites
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Video conferencing software: Teleconferencing software
Cloud-based data access and sharing software: Dropbox; Google Drive; Microsoft SharePoint
Financial analysis software: Delphi Technology
Sales and marketing software: Google Ads; HubSpot software; Marketo Marketing Automation
Human resources software: ADP Workforce Now
Analytical or scientific software: Statistical analysis software; TapRooT
Project management software: Mavenlink; Microsoft Project
Accounting software: Billing software; Bookkeeping software; Intuit QuickBooks; Sage 50 Accounting
Graphics or photo imaging software: SmugMug Flickr
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Transaction security and virus protection software: McAfee; NortonLifeLock cybersecurity software
Data base reporting software: SAP BusinessObjects Crystal Reports
Calendar and scheduling software: Appointment scheduling software
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Geographic information system: ESRI ArcView; Geographic information system GIS systems
Enterprise system management software: IBM Power Systems software
Document management software: Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat; Filing system software; Records management software; Transcription system software
Desktop communications software: Edmodo
Desktop publishing software: Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign; Microsoft Publisher
Video creation and editing software: YouTube
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Operating system software: Microsoft Windows
Data base management system software: Apache Solr; Elasticsearch; MySQL
Computer aided design CAD software: Autodesk AutoCAD; Autodesk Revit
Object or component oriented development software: Oracle Java
Internet browser software: Web browser software
Cloud-based management software: Splunk Enterprise
Data mining software: Google Analytics
Web platform development software: Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP
Inventory management software: Assisi Software Assisi Inventory
Process mapping and design software: Microsoft Visio
Information retrieval or search software: LexisNexis