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.

Most important skills

Active Listening
Speaking
Negotiation
Reading Comprehension
Critical Thinking
Monitoring
Social Perceptiveness
Persuasion

Key knowledge

Sales and Marketing
Customer and Personal Service
English Language
Administration and Management
Personnel and Human Resources
Computers and Electronics
Education and Training
Economics and Accounting

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.
Advise dealers and distributors on policies and operating procedures to ensure functional effectiveness of business.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Conventional, Social.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Bachelor's Degree (71.4% of respondents)
Related experience: Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (38.1%)
On-the-job training: Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (28.6%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Sales Managers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.

Limits

Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0

Work environment

How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).

Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	Very high	Higher on contact with others than 90% of occupations compared	86% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	Very high	Higher on dealing with the public than 96% of occupations compared	76% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Teamwork	Very high	Higher on teamwork than 85% of occupations compared	75% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Freedom to make decisions	High	Higher on freedom to make decisions than 60% of occupations compared	67% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom”
Time pressure	Moderate	Higher on time pressure than 52% of occupations compared	33% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Conflict situations	Very high	Higher on conflict situations than 86% of occupations compared	43% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	High	Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 77% of occupations compared	45% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Consequence of error	Very low	Lower on consequence of error than 91% of occupations compared	42% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: moderate
Conflict situations: very high
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
Consequence of error: very low

Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.

Full answer distributions