# 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.
- **Entity Type:** role
- **Schema Version:** role.v1
- **Soc Code:** 11-2022.00
- **Summary:** 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.

## Aliases

- District Sales Manager
- Sales Director
- Sales Manager
- Sales VP (Sales Vice President)
- Fractional Sales Executive
- National Sales Manager
- Regional Sales Manager
- Sales Operations Manager (Sales Ops Manager)
- Sales Supervisor
- Sales and Marketing VP (Sales and Marketing Vice President)
- Account Manager
- Area Sales Manager

## Tasks

| Text | Type | Iwa |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs. | Core | 4.A.4.b.4.a |
| Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service. | Core | 4.A.4.a.8.c |
| Monitor customer preferences to determine focus of sales efforts. | Core | 4.A.1.a.1.n |
| Confer with potential customers regarding equipment needs, and advise customers on types of equipment to purchase. | Core | 4.A.4.b.6.b |
| Review operational records and reports to project sales and determine profitability. | Core | 4.A.2.a.4.k |
| Plan and direct staffing, training, and performance evaluations to develop and control sales and service programs. | Core | 4.A.2.a.1.d |
| Direct and coordinate activities involving sales of manufactured products, services, commodities, real estate, or other subjects of sale. | Core | 4.A.4.b.4.j |
| Determine price schedules and discount rates. | Core | 4.A.2.b.4.a |
| Prepare budgets and approve budget expenditures. | Core | 4.A.2.b.1.c |
| Confer or consult with department heads to plan advertising services and to secure information on equipment and customer specifications. | Core | 4.A.4.a.2.c |
| Visit franchised dealers to stimulate interest in establishment or expansion of leasing programs. | Core | 4.A.4.a.4.a |
| Represent company at trade association meetings to promote products. | Core | 4.A.4.b.1.c |

## Emerging Tasks

| Text |
| --- |
| Coach staff on sales tactics. |
| Establish and monitor staff's sales goals. |

## Activities

| Name | Iwa |
| --- | --- |
| Resolve customer complaints or problems. | 4.A.4.a.8.c |
| Represent the organization in external relations. | 4.A.4.b.1.c |
| Evaluate employee performance. | 4.A.2.a.1.d |
| Manage human resources activities. | 4.A.4.b.4.f |
| Establish interpersonal business relationships to facilitate work activities. | 4.A.4.a.4.a |
| Advise customers on technical or procedural issues. | 4.A.4.b.6.b |
| Supervise employees. | 4.A.4.b.4.a |
| Direct sales, marketing, or customer service activities. | 4.A.4.b.4.j |
| Evaluate potential of products, technologies, or resources. | 4.A.2.a.1.g |
| Conduct opinion surveys or needs assessments. | 4.A.1.a.1.n |
| Determine pricing or monetary policies. | 4.A.2.b.4.a |
| Analyze financial records or reports to determine state of operations. | 4.A.2.a.4.k |
| Confer with organizational members to accomplish work activities. | 4.A.4.a.2.c |
| Advise others on business or operational matters. | 4.A.4.b.6.e |
| Approve expenditures. | 4.A.2.b.1.c |
| Prepare operational budgets. | 4.A.4.b.4.h |

## Capabilities

| Name | Family | Value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sales and Marketing | knowledge | 4.8 |
| Customer and Personal Service | knowledge | 4.35 |
| English Language | knowledge | 4.11 |
| Administration and Management | knowledge | 4.05 |
| Active Listening | essential_skill | 4 |
| Speaking | essential_skill | 4 |
| Negotiation | transferable_skill | 4 |
| Oral Comprehension | ability | 4 |
| Written Comprehension | ability | 4 |
| Oral Expression | ability | 4 |
| Written Expression | ability | 4 |
| Reading Comprehension | essential_skill | 3.88 |
| Critical Thinking | essential_skill | 3.88 |
| Monitoring | essential_skill | 3.88 |
| Social Perceptiveness | transferable_skill | 3.88 |
| Persuasion | transferable_skill | 3.88 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | transferable_skill | 3.88 |
| Management of Personnel Resources | transferable_skill | 3.88 |
| Problem Sensitivity | ability | 3.88 |
| Deductive Reasoning | ability | 3.88 |
| Inductive Reasoning | ability | 3.88 |
| Active Learning | essential_skill | 3.75 |
| Coordination | transferable_skill | 3.75 |
| Instructing | transferable_skill | 3.75 |
| Complex Problem Solving | transferable_skill | 3.75 |
| Time Management | transferable_skill | 3.75 |
| Fluency of Ideas | ability | 3.75 |
| Originality | ability | 3.75 |
| Speech Recognition | ability | 3.75 |
| Speech Clarity | ability | 3.75 |
| Writing | essential_skill | 3.62 |
| Service Orientation | transferable_skill | 3.62 |
| Systems Analysis | transferable_skill | 3.62 |
| Systems Evaluation | transferable_skill | 3.62 |
| Personnel and Human Resources | knowledge | 3.35 |
| Category Flexibility | ability | 3.25 |
| Computers and Electronics | knowledge | 3.2 |
| Education and Training | knowledge | 3.2 |
| Learning Strategies | essential_skill | 3.12 |
| Information Ordering | ability | 3.12 |

## Skills

| Name | Type |
| --- | --- |
| English Language | Common Skill |
| Negotiation | Common Skill |
| Active Listening | Common Skill |
| Social Perceptiveness | Common Skill |
| Reading Comprehension | Common Skill |
| Inductive Reasoning | Common Skill |
| Deductive Reasoning | Common Skill |
| Critical Thinking | Common Skill |
| Time Management | Common Skill |
| Speech Recognition | Specialized Skill |
| Instructing | Specialized Skill |
| Complex Problem Solving | Common Skill |
| Active Learning | Common Skill |
| Writing | Common Skill |
| Systems Analysis | Specialized Skill |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | Common Skill |
| Microsoft Outlook | Common Skill |
| Microsoft Excel | Common Skill |
| Learning Strategies | Specialized Skill |
| Information Ordering | Specialized Skill |
| Microsoft Word | Common Skill |
| Microsoft Windows | Common Skill |
| Microsoft Visio | Specialized Skill |
| Microsoft Teams | Specialized Skill |
| Microsoft SharePoint | Specialized Skill |
| Microsoft Project | Specialized Skill |
| Microsoft Access | Specialized Skill |
| Mathematics | Common Skill |
| Google Docs | Specialized Skill |
| Google Analytics | Specialized Skill |
| Facebook | Specialized Skill |
| Adobe Acrobat | Specialized Skill |
| Psychology | Specialized Skill |
| Visualization | Specialized Skill |
| Telecommunications | Specialized Skill |
| Tax Software | Specialized Skill |
| Oracle Hyperion | Specialized Skill |
| Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition | Specialized Skill |
| Minitab | Specialized Skill |
| Microsoft Publisher | Specialized Skill |

## Tools

| Example | Category | Hot | In Demand |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Microsoft Excel | Spreadsheet software | yes | yes |
| Microsoft Office software | Office suite software | yes | yes |
| Microsoft Outlook | Electronic mail software | yes | yes |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | Presentation software | yes | yes |
| Salesforce software | Customer relationship management CRM software | yes | yes |
| Adobe Acrobat | Document management software | yes | no |
| Adobe Creative Cloud software | Graphics or photo imaging software | yes | no |
| Bentley MicroStation | Computer aided design CAD software | yes | no |
| Eclipse IDE | Development environment software | yes | no |
| Facebook | Web page creation and editing software | yes | no |
| Google Analytics | Data mining software | yes | no |
| Google Docs | Word processing software | yes | no |
| HubSpot software | Sales and marketing software | yes | no |
| Hypertext markup language HTML | Web platform development software | yes | no |
| IBM SPSS Statistics | Analytical or scientific software | yes | no |
| Marketo Marketing Automation | Sales and marketing software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Access | Data base user interface and query software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Azure software | Development environment software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Project | Project management software | yes | no |
| Microsoft SharePoint | Document management software | yes | no |
| Microsoft SQL Server | Data base user interface and query software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Teams | Project management software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Visio | Process mapping and design software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Visual Basic | Development environment software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications VBA | Development environment software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Windows | Operating system software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Word | Word processing software | yes | no |
| Oracle Database | Data base user interface and query software | yes | no |
| Oracle PeopleSoft | Enterprise resource planning ERP software | yes | no |
| Oracle Primavera Enterprise Project Portfolio Management | Project management software | yes | no |
| R | Object or component oriented development software | yes | no |
| SAP software | Enterprise resource planning ERP software | yes | no |
| SAS | Analytical or scientific software | yes | no |
| Splunk Enterprise | Cloud-based management software | yes | no |
| Structured query language SQL | Data base user interface and query software | yes | no |
| Tableau | Business intelligence and data analysis software | yes | no |
| Teradata Database | Data base management system software | yes | no |
| Yardi software | Data base user interface and query software | yes | no |
| Zoom | Video conferencing software | yes | no |
| Act! | Customer relationship management CRM software | no | no |

## Work Context

| Name | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Telephone Conversations | 5 |
| E-Mail | 5 |
| Contact With Others | 4.86 |
| Deal With External Customers or the Public in General | 4.71 |
| Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams | 4.65 |
| Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team | 4.65 |
| Indoors, Environmentally Controlled | 4.45 |
| Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals | 4.38 |
| Level of Competition | 4.35 |
| Freedom to Make Decisions | 4.24 |
| Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results | 4.15 |
| Coordinate or Lead Others in Accomplishing Work Activities | 4.1 |
| Spend Time Sitting | 4.1 |
| Frequency of Decision Making | 4.1 |
| Written Letters and Memos | 3.95 |
| Work Outcomes and Results of Other Workers | 3.9 |
| Time Pressure | 3.9 |
| In an Enclosed Vehicle or Operate Enclosed Equipment | 3.67 |
| Conflict Situations | 3.52 |
| Importance of Being Exact or Accurate | 3.38 |
| Dealing With Unpleasant, Angry, or Discourteous People | 3.35 |
| Physical Proximity | 3.3 |
| Public Speaking | 2.71 |
| Health and Safety of Other Workers | 2.43 |
| Spend Time Standing | 2.4 |
| Degree of Automation | 2.26 |
| Importance of Repeating Same Tasks | 2.16 |
| Exposed to Sounds, Noise Levels that are Distracting or Uncomfortable | 2.05 |
| Consequence of Error | 2 |
| Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions | 1.85 |
| Spend Time Walking or Running | 1.85 |
| Indoors, Not Environmentally Controlled | 1.71 |
| Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls | 1.65 |
| Outdoors, Under Cover | 1.62 |
| Exposed to Very Hot or Cold Temperatures | 1.53 |
| Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions | 1.52 |
| Exposed to Extremely Bright or Inadequate Lighting Conditions | 1.48 |
| Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets | 1.45 |
| Exposed to Contaminants | 1.42 |
| Exposed to Hazardous Equipment | 1.35 |

## Preparation

- **Job Zone:** 4
- **Job Zone Name:** Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- **Education:** Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- **Experience:** A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
- **Svp Range:** (7.0 to < 8.0)

### Education Distribution

| Label | Percentage |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 71.43 |
| Some College Courses | 19.05 |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 4.76 |
| Master's Degree | 4.76 |

## Person Fit

| Name | Family | Value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Dependability | work_style | 9 |
| Integrity | work_style | 8 |
| Enterprising | career_interest_type | 7 |
| Achievement Orientation | work_style | 7 |
| Sales | specific_interest_area | 6.57 |
| Management/Administration | specific_interest_area | 6.37 |
| Business Initiatives | specific_interest_area | 6.25 |
| Social Orientation | work_style | 6 |
| Conventional | career_interest_type | 5.53 |
| Marketing/Advertising | specific_interest_area | 5 |
| Adaptability | work_style | 5 |
| Public Speaking | specific_interest_area | 4.77 |
| Perseverance | work_style | 4 |
| Human Resources | specific_interest_area | 3.38 |
| Social | career_interest_type | 3.37 |
| Accounting | specific_interest_area | 3.36 |

## Related Roles

| Soc Code | Slug | Title | Tier |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 11-2021.00 | role-11-2021-00 | Marketing Managers | Primary-Short |
| 41-3091.00 | role-41-3091-00 | Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel | Primary-Short |
| 13-1161.00 | role-13-1161-00 | Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists | Primary-Short |
| 11-2011.00 | role-11-2011-00 | Advertising and Promotions Managers | Primary-Short |
| 13-1022.00 | role-13-1022-00 | Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products | Primary-Short |
| 11-3061.00 | role-11-3061-00 | Purchasing Managers | Primary-Long |
| 41-1011.00 | role-41-1011-00 | First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers | Primary-Long |
| 41-1012.00 | role-41-1012-00 | First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers | Primary-Long |
| 11-1021.00 | role-11-1021-00 | General and Operations Managers | Primary-Long |
| 41-3011.00 | role-41-3011-00 | Advertising Sales Agents | Primary-Long |
| 13-1111.00 | role-13-1111-00 | Management Analysts | Supplemental |
| 13-1199.06 | role-13-1199-06 | Online Merchants | Supplemental |

## Career Clusters

| Cluster | Slug |
| --- | --- |
| Marketing & Sales | marketing-sales |

## Education Level

- **Category:** Bachelor's degree

## Study Programs

| Title | Slug |
| --- | --- |
| Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services | business-management-marketing-and-related-support-services |
| Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences | family-and-consumer-sciences-human-sciences |
| Health Professions and Related Programs | health-professions-and-related-programs |

## Market

- **Median Wage:** 138060
- **Mean Wage:** 160930
- **Pct10Wage:** 66910
- **Pct25Wage:** 95910
- **Pct75Wage:** 201490
- **Employment:** 603710
- **Area Title:** U.S.

## Industries


### Top

| Naics | Slug | Title | Level | Employment | Median Wage | Lq |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 42 | 42 | Wholesale Trade | Sector | 123910 | 135530 | 5.24 |
| 44-45 | 44-45 | Retail Trade | Sector | 100180 | 92630 | 1.64 |
| 54 | 54 | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | Sector | 83200 | 168320 | 1.97 |
| 31-33 | 31-33 | Manufacturing | Sector | 63920 | 150210 | 1.28 |
| 52 | 52 | Finance and Insurance | Sector | 61040 | 173230 | 2.5 |
| 51 | 51 | Information | Sector | 42020 | 170280 | 3.69 |
| 55 | 55 | Management of Companies and Enterprises | Sector | 35830 | 166330 | 3.26 |
| 56 | 56 | Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | Sector | 27330 | 125010 | 0.77 |
| 524210 | 524210 | Insurance Agencies and Brokerages | National industry | 12650 | 156130 | 3.26 |
| 72 | 72 | Accommodation and Food Services | Sector | 11110 | 95270 | 0.2 |
| 23 | 23 | Construction | Sector | 10930 | 125800 | 0.34 |
| 48-49 | 48-49 | Transportation and Warehousing | Sector | 10910 | 125720 | 0.38 |

### Concentrated

| Naics | Slug | Title | Level | Employment | Lq |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 42 | 42 | Wholesale Trade | Sector | 123910 | 5.24 |
| 516110 | 516110 | Radio Broadcasting Stations | National industry | 780 | 3.85 |
| 51 | 51 | Information | Sector | 42020 | 3.69 |
| 516120 | 516120 | Television Broadcasting Stations | National industry | 860 | 3.38 |
| 423820 | 423820 | Farm and Garden Machinery and Equipment Merchant Wholesalers | National industry | 1490 | 3.34 |
| 524210 | 524210 | Insurance Agencies and Brokerages | National industry | 12650 | 3.26 |
| 55 | 55 | Management of Companies and Enterprises | Sector | 35830 | 3.26 |
| 52 | 52 | Finance and Insurance | Sector | 61040 | 2.5 |
- **Count:** 55

## Ai Signals

| Source | Label | Score | Scale | Release |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| frey_osborne | Computerization probability | 0.013 | 0-1 probability | 2013-baseline-2016-employment-snapshot |
| felten_aioe | AI occupational exposure | 1.26628 | relative exposure score | 2021-plus-generative-ai-workbooks |
| felten_image_generation_aioe | Image generation occupational exposure | 1.009998 | relative exposure score | 2021-plus-generative-ai-workbooks |
| felten_language_modeling_aioe | Language modeling occupational exposure | 1.293821 | relative exposure score | 2021-plus-generative-ai-workbooks |

## Ai Outlook


### Index

- **Value:** 73
- **Percentile:** 74
- **Band:** High
- **Version:** ai-exposure-index-v1

#### Components

| Percentile | Source |
| --- | --- |
| 84 | felten_aioe |
| 78 | openai_gpts_are_gpts |
| 56 | microsoft_working_with_ai |
- **Component Count:** 3

### Exposure

| Source | Label | Value | Percentile | Band | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| felten_aioe | Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) | 1.26628 | 84 | High | How much this job's abilities overlap with what AI systems can do, across many AI capabilities. A relative research score, not a forecast of job loss. |
| eloundou_gamma | LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) | 0.9 | 78 | High | Share of this job's tasks where a large language model plus simple tools could cut the time to do them by at least half. γ is capped at 1.0 and many jobs reach that ceiling, so treat a top score as 'in the top group', not a precise rank. |
| microsoft_applicability | AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) | 0.16417528214337473 | 56 | Moderate | How applicable today's AI assistants are to this job's activities, measured from real Microsoft Copilot conversations. Applicability is not the same as replacement. |

### Frey Historical

- **Source:** frey
- **Label:** Computerization probability (Frey & Osborne, 2013)
- **Value:** 0.013
- **Percentile:** 8
- **Band:** Low
- **Note:** A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
- **Teleworkable:** yes

### Eloundou

- **Alpha:** 0
- **Beta:** 0.45
- **Gamma:** 0.9

### Usage Tasks

| Task | Usage Percent | Importance |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service. | 0.012427642363265122 | 4.35 |
| Determine price schedules and discount rates. | 0.005135389406307902 | 3.95 |
| Represent company at trade association meetings to promote products. | 0.003286649220037057 | 3.33 |
| Review operational records and reports to project sales and determine profitability. | 0.0019514479743970028 | 4.21 |
| Prepare budgets and approve budget expenditures. | 0.0016433246100185286 | 3.7 |
- **Usage Release:** 2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2

### Bls

- **Growth Percent:** 4.7
- **Growth Percentile:** 72
- **Direction:** About average
- **Annual Openings Thousands:** 49
- **Annual Openings Percentile:** 89
- **Employment2024Thousands:** 619.5
- **Employment2034Thousands:** 648.5

### Sources

| Source | Version |
| --- | --- |
| bls_employment_projections | 2024-2034 |
| dingel_neiman | dingel-neiman-workathome |
| felten_aioe | felten-raj-seamans-aioe |
| frey_osborne | frey-osborne-automation |
| microsoft_working_with_ai | working-with-ai |
| openai_gpts_are_gpts | gpts-are-gpts |

## Ai Playbook

- **Trusted Task Count:** 2
- **Task Count:** 6
- **Total Sample:** 297
- **Autonomy Median:** 4
- **Dominant Collaboration:** task iteration
- **Automation Share:** 31.34
- **Augmentation Share:** 40.09
- **Work Use Percent:** 54.38

### Collaboration

| Label | Percent |
| --- | --- |
| task iteration | 33.18 |
| directive | 31.34 |
| none | 9.68 |
| learning | 6.91 |

### Use Case

| Label | Percent |
| --- | --- |
| work | 54.38 |
| personal | 43.32 |

### Delegated Tasks

| Task | Usage Percent | Collaboration | Autonomy Median | Sample Count |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service. | 0.013301662707838478 | task iteration | 4 | 133 |
| Represent company at trade association meetings to promote products. | 0.00840105013126641 | directive | 4 | 84 |

### Boundary Tasks

| Task | Human Needed Percent | Sample Count |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Represent company at trade association meetings to promote products. | 100 | 84 |
| Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service. | 96.99248120300751 | 133 |

### Seed Prompts

| Prompt | Collaboration |
| --- | --- |
| Let's work through this together, step by step: resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service. I'll give feedback as we go. | task iteration |
| Do this for me: represent company at trade association meetings to promote products. Give me a finished draft I can review and adjust. | directive |
- **Release:** 2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2

## Counts

- **Tasks:** 17
- **Skills:** 68
- **Capabilities:** 120
- **Tools:** 103
- **Related Roles:** 20

## Source

- **Dataset:** gold.onet_role_starter_surface
- **Version:** 30.3
- **Generated At:** 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00
- **Content Hash:** d3368333fb88c139