Skills and abilities: Excellent organisational, communication and leadership skills, IT literacy, motivational, budgeting and forecasting skills.

What are the responsibilities of a sales manager? Of course an answer to this question is not a straight forward one as it may differ from one organisation to another. The role of a sales manager may include the following:

• Determining the aims of the client or business
• Creating a sales plan and proactively experimenting to improve execution.
• Performance management of sales teams.
• Assisting with creation os sales forecasts and sales targets.
• Monitoring progress in real-time and analysing data.
• Overseeing the organisation’s sales training.
• Setting and implementing quality standards for sales people and the service they deliver.
• Keeping an active watch over (and involvement in) key accounts.
• Mentoring individual sales reps and administering incentive programs.
• Recruitment and hiring of sales people.
• Motivation of sales people in the team.
• Dealing with customer complaints related to behaviour of sales people.
• Some of these sales manager responsibilities can overlap with those of other related roles depending upon the size and internal structure of your organisation.

Career progression: You may decide to enhance your sales management skills through a focussed qualification. With experience, you may rise to the position of Senior Sales Manager or Director of sales, or choose to work as a freelance consultant.