A Career as a Sales Manager

Summary: A sales manager’s job is extremely challenging and demands a lot of determination. Apart from the basic qualifications, you need outstanding leadership and management skills for a successful sales manager career. Simple and essential sales management career tips can help you build a successful career in sales.

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Every organization needs salespersons and sales managers. The role of a sales manager is to manage a group of salespeople in any organization. Sales managers need to ensure that the team under them is trained well and has all the resources to sell and achieve their targets. As a manager you're expected to achieve the set targets and even set a benchmark for other managers by outperforming. This is only possible when you do your job extremely well.

• See Do and Give More Than is Expected of You for more information.

The minimum qualification you need to pursue your career as a sales manager is a bachelor's degree with some experience in sales. However, many organizations across the globe now hire managers with a master's degree in sales and marketing with relevant experience in a particular industry or field. However, more than the academic qualification, you're expected to be an excellent coach, a good listener, someone who can motivate people to sell and also develop great interpersonal skills.

Sales management careers are quite competitive and demand a lot of patience. As the job is target oriented, there will be times when you'll face a high pressure environment. As a manager you'll be expected to work well with people and deal effectively with different personalities. You will also be expected to know the strengths and weakness of your team members. You need to work on your skills and ensure that the salespeople you are in charge of have confidence in you as a mentor or a leader. You need to build a strong social network in your personal as well as professional life.

Apart from these skills, you need to set business goals and targets for your team, analyze reports, give presentations and develop strategies. You also have to participate in team building activities, sales contests and other activities conducted by organizations. You have to work with your team members to help them achieve their goals and targets. As a successful sales manager you need to have excellent product knowledge.

The salary of sales managers varies for different industries. Sometimes, a sales person in the team might make more than what a sales manager earns. This is because of extra income like bonuses, incentives, commissions, etc. However, experienced sales managers get great salary packages and amazing perks.

If you're up for a challenging job, start building up your career as a sales manager. Be open to learning and feedback and be humble and you can make a successful career in the field of sales.



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