Sales Manager (General)
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Sales Manager plans and directs sale of products or services to customers. Coordinates sales distribution. Establishes sales territories, quotas and/or goals for staff, and provides training for sales representatives. Analyzes sales data to monitor customer preferences and develops strategies for increasing sales..
Job Outlook
There were 3477 Sales Manager (General) job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 97308 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Business Development / Sales Manager industry, which includes the Sales Manager (General) career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2017:
Salary
Many new Sales Manager (General) jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $119,488.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $117,489.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Sales Manager (General) postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $98,184.
Education and Experience
Posted Sales Manager (General) jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 37.32% |
| Master's Degree | 4.16% |
| Doctoral Degree | 0.28% |
| Other | 14.31% |
Posted Sales Manager (General) jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 32.24% |
| 3 to 5 years | 52.07% |
| 6 to 8 years | 9.48% |
| 9+ years | 6.21% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Sales Manager (General) positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Sales (95.59%)
- Communication (62.21%)
- Customer Service (54.27%)
- Leadership (54.22%)
- Management (47.71%)
- Operations (34.29%)
- Problem Solving (23.82%)
- Coaching (21.76%)
- Negotiation (18.4%)
- Decision Making (18.22%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Sales Management (85.1%)
- Selling Techniques (27.3%)
- Marketing (30.31%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Sales Prospecting (19.63%)
- Customer Relationship Management (25.21%)
- Merchandising (23.56%)
- Sales Strategy (19.34%)
- Business To Business (11.31%)
- Sales Process (12.49%)
- Billing (2.97%)
- Market Trend (10.55%)
- Salesforce (9.73%)
- Outside Sales (7.12%)
- Market Share (7.34%)
- Business Development (11.5%)
- Merchandise Returns (1.24%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Sales Strategy (22.04%)
- Sales Management (96.96%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Sales Manager (General) skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Sales Manager
- IT Sales Manager
- Automotive Sales Manager
- Commercial Sales Manager
- Group Sales Manager
- Wireless Sales Manager
- General Sales Manager
- Field Sales Manager
- Sales and Account Manager
- Sales Operations Manager
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Sales Manager (General) jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- AutoZone (14583)
- Carter's (1764)
- GPAC (1142)
- Ulta Beauty (1053)
- Hilton (903)
- Aaron's (811)
- Michaels (802)
- Wolters Kluwer (739)
- Marriott International (693)
- Keurig Dr Pepper (581)
North Carolina
- AutoZone (551)
- Food Lion (207)
- Home Genius Exteriors (56)
- Carter's (55)
- Aaron's (55)
- Michaels (44)
- Brookdale Senior Living (35)
- Ulta Beauty (33)
- Premium Retail Services (27)
- Stanton Optical (26)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.