Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Sales manager to chief marketing officer

A sales manager already meets 58% of what the chief marketing officer role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From sales manager
58 % overlap
Partial match
To chief marketing officer
27 You already bring
6 Still to learn
63 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Real move, short list to learn

51.6/ 100

1 How much of what a chief marketing officer is expected to do is already part of a sales manager’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the chief marketing officer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A chief marketing officer role treats 20 of its required skills as things a sales manager already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • align efforts towards business development
  • analyse consumer buying trends
  • analyse external factors of companies
  • analyse internal factors of companies
  • analyse work-related written reports
  • brand marketing techniques

What stands in the way is 6 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 27 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A chief marketing officer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a sales manager background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held customer segmentation business, administration and law
  • already held evaluate marketing content information skills
  • already held define measurable marketing objectives management skills
  • already held identify potential markets for companies management skills
  • already held integrate marketing strategies with the global strategy management skills
  • already held marketing mix business, administration and law

All 27 carried skills, including the 20 the chief marketing officer role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 36 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 business, administration and law 3 required, 16 supplementary
  • still to learn services marketing required
  • still to learn business management principles required
  • still to learn market analysis required
  • optional, not held customer insight optional
  • optional, not held neuromarketing techniques optional
  • optional, not held project management optional
  • optional, not held web strategy assessment optional
  • optional, not held consumer law optional
  • optional, not held financial capability optional
  • optional, not held international trade optional
  • optional, not held market entry strategies optional
  • optional, not held marketing analytics optional
  • optional, not held online ads campaign techniques optional
  • optional, not held quality assurance methodologies optional
  • optional, not held relationship marketing optional
  • optional, not held reputation management optional
  • optional, not held social media marketing techniques optional
  • optional, not held subsidiary operations optional
  • optional, not held trading law optional
02 information skills 3 required
  • still to learn interpret financial statements required
  • still to learn make data-driven decisions required
  • still to learn use analytics for commercial purposes required
03 communication, collaboration and creativity 5 supplementary
  • optional, not held communicate with customer service department optional
  • optional, not held prospect new customers optional
  • optional, not held implement marketing strategies optional
  • optional, not held liaise with advertising agencies optional
  • optional, not held manage development of promotional material optional
04 management skills 5 supplementary
  • optional, not held conduct online competitive analysis optional
  • optional, not held plan social media marketing campaigns optional
  • optional, not held develop public relations strategies optional
  • optional, not held manage yield optional
  • optional, not held use theoretical marketing models optional
05 arts and humanities 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held graphic design optional
  • optional, not held printing techniques optional
06 information and communication technologies (icts) 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held e-commerce systems optional

1 further area in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a chief marketing officer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 27 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held align efforts towards business development skill
  • already held analyse consumer buying trends skill
  • already held analyse external factors of companies skill
  • already held analyse internal factors of companies skill
  • already held analyse work-related written reports skill
  • already held brand marketing techniques knowledge
  • already held content marketing strategy knowledge
  • already held create annual marketing budget skill
  • already held define measurable marketing objectives skill
  • already held evaluate marketing content skill
  • already held identify potential markets for companies skill
  • already held integrate marketing strategies with the global strategy skill
  • already held liaise with managers skill
  • already held manage profitability skill
  • already held market pricing knowledge
  • already held marketing mix knowledge
  • already held plan marketing campaigns skill
  • already held plan marketing strategy skill
  • already held study sales levels of products skill
  • already held track key performance indicators skill
  • already held analyse supply chain strategies skill
  • already held coordinate marketing plan actions skill
  • already held customer segmentation knowledge
  • already held impart business plans to collaborators skill
  • already held manage budgets skill
  • already held perform market research skill
  • already held statistics knowledge
The 1 learning area not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 social sciences, journalism and information 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held trendwatching optional
30 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held communicate with customer service department optional
  • optional, not held conduct online competitive analysis optional
  • optional, not held customer insight optional
  • optional, not held e-commerce systems optional
  • optional, not held neuromarketing techniques optional
  • optional, not held plan social media marketing campaigns optional
  • optional, not held project management optional
  • optional, not held prospect new customers optional
  • optional, not held web strategy assessment optional
  • optional, not held consumer law optional
  • optional, not held develop public relations strategies optional
  • optional, not held financial capability optional
  • optional, not held graphic design optional
  • optional, not held implement marketing strategies optional
  • optional, not held international trade optional
  • optional, not held liaise with advertising agencies optional
  • optional, not held manage development of promotional material optional
  • optional, not held manage yield optional
  • optional, not held market entry strategies optional
  • optional, not held marketing analytics optional
  • optional, not held online ads campaign techniques optional
  • optional, not held printing techniques optional
  • optional, not held quality assurance methodologies optional
  • optional, not held relationship marketing optional
  • optional, not held reputation management optional
  • optional, not held social media marketing techniques optional
  • optional, not held subsidiary operations optional
  • optional, not held trading law optional
  • optional, not held trendwatching optional
  • optional, not held use theoretical marketing models optional
35 held skills the chief marketing officer role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role analyse business plans skill
  • not needed by the target role analyse customer service surveys skill
  • not needed by the target role carry out sales analysis skill
  • not needed by the target role collaborate in the development of marketing strategies skill
  • not needed by the target role communicate with customers skill
  • not needed by the target role consumer goods industry knowledge
  • not needed by the target role corporate social responsibility knowledge
  • not needed by the target role define geographic sales areas skill
  • not needed by the target role develop professional network skill
  • not needed by the target role estimate profitability skill
  • not needed by the target role forecast sales over periods of time skill
  • not needed by the target role implement sales strategies skill
  • not needed by the target role integrate headquarter's guidelines into local operations skill
  • not needed by the target role integrate strategic foundation in daily performance skill
  • not needed by the target role international business knowledge
  • not needed by the target role investigate customer complaints of food products skill
  • not needed by the target role make strategic business decisions skill
  • not needed by the target role manage accounts skill
  • not needed by the target role manage distribution channels skill
  • not needed by the target role manage staff skill
  • not needed by the target role market research knowledge
  • not needed by the target role motivate employees skill
  • not needed by the target role prepare visual data skill
  • not needed by the target role present arguments persuasively skill
  • not needed by the target role pricing strategies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role produce sales reports skill
  • not needed by the target role public relations knowledge
  • not needed by the target role recruit personnel skill
  • not needed by the target role sales argumentation knowledge
  • not needed by the target role sales department processes knowledge
  • not needed by the target role sales strategies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role set sales goals skill
  • not needed by the target role supervise sales activities skill
  • not needed by the target role teach marketing principles skill
  • not needed by the target role write work-related reports skill
23 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn services marketing required
  • still to learn business management principles required
  • still to learn market analysis required
  • optional, not held customer insight optional
  • optional, not held e-commerce systems optional
  • optional, not held neuromarketing techniques optional
  • optional, not held project management optional
  • optional, not held web strategy assessment optional
  • optional, not held consumer law optional
  • optional, not held financial capability optional
  • optional, not held graphic design optional
  • optional, not held international trade optional
  • optional, not held market entry strategies optional
  • optional, not held marketing analytics optional
  • optional, not held online ads campaign techniques optional
  • optional, not held printing techniques optional
  • optional, not held quality assurance methodologies optional
  • optional, not held relationship marketing optional
  • optional, not held reputation management optional
  • optional, not held social media marketing techniques optional
  • optional, not held subsidiary operations optional
  • optional, not held trading law optional
  • optional, not held trendwatching optional
Index

Other moves recorded from sales manager

Full index of moves from sales manager

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a sales manager become a chief marketing officer?

Yes, and it is a moderate move. A sales manager already covers 58% of what a chief marketing officer is expected to do: 27 skills carry over, 20 of which the chief marketing officer role treats as required.

What skills does a sales manager need to become a chief marketing officer?

6 required skills are missing, plus 30 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by business, administration and law. The single most important is services marketing.

How hard is the move from sales manager to chief marketing officer?

Its learning distance is 51.6 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.