Sales Managers
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.
- Median pay
- $148,270
- Doing it now
- 650,100
- By 2035
- Up 4.5%
- Usually needs
- Bachelor's degree
a year
across the country
47,300 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service.
- Monitor customer preferences to determine focus of sales efforts.
- Direct and coordinate activities involving sales of manufactured products, services, commodities, real estate, or other subjects of sale.
- Determine price schedules and discount rates.
- Review operational records and reports to project sales and determine profitability.
- Direct, coordinate, and review sales and service accounting and record-keeping, as well as receiving and shipping.
- Confer or consult with department heads to plan advertising services and to secure information on equipment and customer specifications.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Business Administration, Management and OperationsSee 1,587 colleges that teach it
- MarketingSee 864 colleges that teach it
- Business/Commerce, GeneralSee 487 colleges that teach it
- Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and AdministrationSee 81 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Leading and persuading
Organised and precise
Helping and teaching
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $148,270 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.