How to Become a Sales Manager

A sales manager oversees and guides the sales team of an organization. Sales managers are in charge of hiring and training new team members, driving sales, managing the budget, establishing daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly sales goals, evaluating their team’s performance, and addressing performance-related issues. While overseeing daily operations, sales managers also enable each member of the sales force to close deals and hit sales goals. They are also responsible for monitoring the competition and meeting the needs of their own customers.

Depending on the size of the sales organization, sales managers can be responsible for the following tasks:

• Onboard new salespeople. The sales manager interviews and hires new sales reps or regional sales managers, ensuring that each new team member is the right fit for the force.
• Set sales goals. The sales manager is responsible for the sales staff, including developing and achieving team goals and sales quotas. The sales manager sets the tone and pace for the entire team—they inform how aggressive the sales professionals should be in pursuing leads and closing deals to hit their sales targets.
• Track sales performance. The sales manager often oversees the customer relationship management tool (CRM) to keep track of every team member’s sales statistics—from the number of deals closed to the sales territories with the highest profitability to the length of the field sales cycle. They also ensure that every member of the sales force is performing at or above the desired level. Depending on the organization’s size, they may also project sales or shift sales efforts according to the data.
• Coordinate sales training. Sales managers are in charge of coordinating and executing training sessions for their team. In small companies, sales managers may personally conduct these training sessions; in larger companies, they may pass this task over to the sales enablement team.
• Manage the budget. The sales manager is responsible for tracking the team’s expenses and reporting the budget to upper management.
• Handle customer complaints. If there is a conflict between a sales representative and a customer, it’s up to the sales manager to listen to and resolve the complaint.
• Communicate with other teams. The sales manager is often the point person between the sales force and other essential business teams, including the sales ops and sales enablement teams. They work with these other teams to hone the sales plan.

To become a great sales manager, you’ll need a few key skills:

• Great communication. Communication skills are vital if you want to be a good sales manager. Good communication skills allow you to explain complex ideas efficiently, give thoughtful feedback, and share daily updates with your team.
• Strong leadership. A great sales manager will have great leadership skills and create a mentoring and motivating work environment for their team, even in the face of setbacks. Sales managers also need to set a positive and encouraging tone in groups.
• Detail- and data-oriented. Along with strong leadership and good communication, sales managers also have to track performance data and analyze metrics. To be successful in this role, you’ll need to keep an eye on the details, crunching numbers, and synthesizing data to keep your team on track.

If you want to become a full-time sales manager, here are the most common ways to get the job:

1. 1. Earn a bachelor’s degree. While a bachelor’s degree isn’t a requirement for the job, it is a great way to show your commitment to learning and improving. A degree in business or marketing can score you extra points with recruiters and hiring managers in more competitive hiring situations.
2. 2. Gain relevant work experience. To be a great sales manager (and a more attractive candidate in the hiring process), you should have at least a year of relevant work experience—whether that’s on-the-ground sales experience or working on a related team like sales operations or sales enablement.
3. 3. Apply. After gaining your degree and relevant work experience, there are a couple of ways to obtain a sales manager position. You can apply for the position directly or work your way up to the job. To climb the corporate ladder, start by working on a sales team for sales experience, then apply to an assistant sales manager position to gain managerial experience. After garnering enough experience, you can apply for the sales manager position. The “ladder” approach is especially useful if you want to work for a particular company, and they don’t have any sales management job openings available.

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