Management · Holland code ECS

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.

Also called: District Sales Manager, Sales Director, Sales Manager, Sales VP (Sales Vice President), Fractional Sales Executive, National Sales Manager, Regional Sales Manager, Sales and Marketing VP (Sales and Marketing Vice President).

O*NET 11-2022.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $148,270; Middle half earn $100,360 to $207,340. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 71% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +5% · Faster than average; 619,500 jobs in 2024, projected 648,500. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Sales managers".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs.
Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service.
Monitor customer preferences to determine focus of sales efforts.
Confer with potential customers regarding equipment needs, and advise customers on types of equipment to purchase.
Review operational records and reports to project sales and determine profitability.
Plan and direct staffing, training, and performance evaluations to develop and control sales and service programs.
Direct and coordinate activities involving sales of manufactured products, services, commodities, real estate, or other subjects of sale.
Determine price schedules and discount rates.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.9 / 5
Critical Thinking3.9 / 5
Monitoring3.9 / 5
Active Learning3.8 / 5

Knowledge areas

Sales and Marketing4.8 / 5
Customer and Personal Service4.3 / 5
English Language4.1 / 5
Administration and Management4.0 / 5
Personnel and Human Resources3.4 / 5
Computers and Electronics3.2 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic8
Investigative11
Artistic6
Social40
Enterprising100
Conventional76

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

auction house manager · DE Auktionshausleiter/Auktionshausleiterin · FR directeur de maison de ventes aux enchères/directrice de maison de ventes aux enchères
sales manager · DE Führungskraft im Vertrieb · FR directeur des ventes/directrice des ventes
category manager · DE Warengruppenmanager/Warengruppenmanagerin · FR responsable catégorie de produits
motor vehicle aftersales manager · DE Kundendienstleiter Kraftfahrzeuge/Kundendienstleiterin Kraftfahrzeuge · FR responsable service après-vente véhicules à moteur
online sales channel manager · DE Online-Vertriebsmanager/Online-Vertriebsmanagerin · FR responsable e-commerce
promotion manager · DE Werbeleiter/Werbeleiterin · FR responsable de la promotion des ventes

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Purchasing managers and directors (1134)61,700 employed
Directors in logistics, warehousing and transport (1140)30,300 employed
Managers in logistics (1243)34,900 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Managers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Managers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€96,629
Italy	€96,052
Germany	€90,192
Austria	€82,936
Netherlands	€69,857
Sweden	€60,369
France	€58,740
Ireland	€55,854
Spain	€54,121
Portugal	€39,189
Poland	€19,596

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.27. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (11-2022).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test