Job Review: Sales Manager

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Be it products or services, the main purpose of a business is to offer and sell solutions to customer’s issues. In the process of engaging and persuading potential buyers  to make the purchase, there is a strategic role responsible for this: sales manager.  As the title suggests, sales managers are primarily responsible for managing a company's sales. This role is essential in any company as it contributes significantly to not only generate revenue but also maintain client loyalty. 

In this week’s #TalentvisJobReview, you are about to understand more about a Sales Manager job.

Brief Overview

Sales managers are in charge of directing daily activities in the sales department. They come up with innovative measures to enhance products/services and communicate with target customers in order to maintain competitive advantage. Their responsibilities include hiring and training sales staff, communicating data relating sales targets from top management to department staff members, and creating leads to distribute among sales representatives. 

Job Responsibilities of a Sales Manager

Each company may have different duties given to sales managers depending on their scale and operational field. However, some typical job responsibilities of a sales manager are: 

• Managing sales, promotions, and marketing on a local and regional scale.

• Organizing and supervising the employment and training of new sales representatives.

• Developing and approving sales budgets and forecasts, as well as approving expenses.

• Keeping track of and evaluating sales data using important quantitative indicators.

• Providing policy and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) assistance to distributors and retailers.

• Managing, developing, coaching, controlling, and encouraging marketers to improve their skills in order to attain a high professional standard and meet monthly sales and KPI goals.

• Ensuring that targets are met through innovation management, performance evaluation, and personal recognition.

Sales managers work closely with other department heads, such as the Finance Manager, Customer Service Manager, or Marketing Manager, to develop a department budget, promote sales through marketing campaigns, and resolve customer complaints. Moreover, they may also be expected to attend in-person meetings with clients to renew contracts or discuss new business items. 

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Skills of a Sales Manager

Sales Managers must be self-driven, have a passion for selling, and possess the following abilities and professional experience in order to increase sales while keeping strong client relationships:

• Strategic Thinking and Planning

Planning is a necessary stage in assuring the growth of a sales force and, ultimately, the scalability of a company. To perform this, sales managers need to be able to properly create sales targets and record the process. Once they have obtained the essential data and insights to develop a strategy, they need to design the form of action that will lead to the sales plan's execution. This requires enforcing, tracking, and updating from start to finish to ensure the plan's implementation. Sales managers must also give the required training and support so that the whole sales team thrives on a constant basis.

• Sales Analytics

To create sales targets, sales managers must be able to assess and review sales data analytics and make strategic decisions based on it. Conducting in-depth market and consumer research to find opportunities and relationships is a key element of their profession. This demands excellent analytical abilities as well as the capacity to make relevant and effective decisions for the benefit of the firm. Such insights are useful in anticipating and setting sales targets in accordance with the company's objectives. This also serves as the foundation for designing sales campaigns, which are then handled by sales managers.

Qualifications of a Sales Manager

This job is at the managerial level, so related skills, experience, and tangible qualifications are critical. Although the number of years may varys, the typical experience required to be a sales manager is around 3 to 5 years in a certain industry. It is to be noted that different industries have different approaches to sales. For example, experienced sales managers previously working at an IT service company may struggle despite being in the same position in a Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry. Thus, sales managers are usually ones who have years of experience in a specific industry according to the company’s field of operation.

Sales managers can actually be graduates from any major, although some companies prefer individuals with a bachelor's degree in sales and marketing or business management. Bigger companies sometimes seek individuals with training in sales management and promotion strategies, as well as certifications such as the Certified Professional Sales Leader (CPSL) or the Certified Sales Executive (CSE). Regardless, it is becoming quite a fact that desired sales managers are ones with the most experience rather than academic background. Years of exposure to an actual business operation are mandatory in order to boost sales for a company. 

Now that you know more about a sales manager job, it is time to start looking for the opportunity to become one. Talentvis provides plenty of job opportunities for sales manager positions in reputable companies across Southeast Asia. So, are you ready to kickstart your career as a sales manager? 

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