Where a sales manager can go next
12 destinations recorded, ranked by how much of the target role a sales manager already meets. The closer to the top of Table 1, the less there is to learn.
Sales managers develop sales and targeting strategies for a company. They manage sales teams, allocate sales resources based on the plans, prioritise and follow up on critical leads, develop sales pitches and adjust them over time, and maintain a sales platform to track all leads and sales.
Also known as sales commercial manager, sales director, sales executive, group sales manager, area sales manager, inside sales manager, sales coordinator, international sales manage.
Managers 62 skills on file 12 career moves 1 above 60% overlap Closest: promotion manager, 69%
- 70% and above · short step
- 50 to 70% · real move
- Below 50% · substantial retraining
Table 2 · A bigger jump
Possible, but expect real retraining rather than a sideways step.
- category manager 58% covered · difficulty 55.6
- marketing manager 54% covered · difficulty 62.2
- online community manager 51% covered · difficulty 63.3
- business developer 37% covered · difficulty 63.7
- client relations manager 29% covered · difficulty 76
- marketing consultant 29% covered · difficulty 75
- book publisher 28% covered · difficulty 70.5
- retail department manager 26% covered · difficulty 72.8
- market research analyst 25% covered · difficulty 80.2
- brand manager 25% covered · difficulty 79.5
Table 3 · What the job itself asks for
A sales manager needs 42 required skills and areas of knowledge. These 10 are the ones fewest other jobs share, so they say the most about the work.
- evaluate marketing content information skills
- define measurable marketing objectives management skills
- sales department processes business, administration and law
- identify potential markets for companies management skills
- integrate marketing strategies with the global strategy management skills
- marketing mix business, administration and law
- motivate employees management skills
- analyse customer service surveys information skills
- pricing strategies business, administration and law
- coordinate marketing plan actions management skills
Table 4 · Jobs that lead here
The reverse view: occupations whose skills already cover much of what a sales manager does. The figure is how much of this job each one brings.
- marketing manager 80% covered · difficulty 30.2
- category manager 59% covered · difficulty 54
- promotion manager 58% covered · difficulty 55.2
- online community manager 56% covered · difficulty 56.5
- chief marketing officer 49% covered · difficulty 63.5
- product manager 24% covered · difficulty 81.8
- business developer 16% covered · difficulty 87.5
Look up another occupation
Sales manager is filed under Managers, ISCO major group 1. The full index lists all ten groups.
How these figures were compiled
Overlap is how much of the target role is already part of a sales manager’s work. It is directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. Every entry above opens the full comparison for that move: what carries over, what is missing, and where to start. The full method.