The Sales Manager: role and responsibilities

The responsibilities of a Sales Manager vary greatly depending on the size and complexity of the organisation in which he/she works. However, there are some essential responsibilities that a Sales Manager has to perform within a company. We look at them in this article.

Sales Planning

Sales planning includes all activities related to the design and implementation of a sales plan. The main function of sales planning is to ensure that all members of the executive team are constantly aligned on key elements of an organisation such as sales targets and strategies, market management and new product development.

Those activities defined in sales planning are closely related to other tasks of a sales manager including analysis and budgeting.

Sales Analysis

A Sales Manager has to perform many forms of analysis that are all related to the customer portfolio, the product or service offered. The analysis can also be about the market in which the organisation operates, trends, and of course also competitors.

Only after carrying out analyses with regard to all these elements, the Sales Manager can form a clear picture of the general environment in which the organisation operates and what changes have occurred since the last analysis. This will help him/her to consciously continue with the other activities.

Business Plan and Sales Channels

The realisation of the sales plan and the choice of sales channels is one of the activities most dependent on the above-mentioned analysis phase. In fact, only with objective data in hand is it possible to make a proper sales plan.

The sales plan is made to define:

• Available budget
• Sales targets
• Revenue
• Market share
• Programming of activities and sales strategy

Obviously, in order to define these elements in a realistic and proactive manner, it is necessary to base them on real data that you already have, hence the importance of analysis activities.

Product or Service Development

The development phase of a product or service is also closely linked to the analysis phase, since only by having in-depth and precise knowledge of the market in which the organisation operates will a Sales Manager be able to identify what the customers’ demands and expectations are.

The Sales Manager deals with everything related to a product or service, this includes:

• Revising new products or services
• Updating products or services already on the market in order to make them more competitive
• Removing products or services from the catalogue available for sale
• Standardizing the production of certain products or services

Selection and Supervision of Sales Staff

The Sales Manager is directly involved in the selection of new sales personnel: he/she supervises the selection of CVs and takes part in interviews. Upon recruitment of new staff, the Sales Manager is supervising and training new team members.

In addition, the Sales Manager is also responsible for training and guiding new team members, conveying the corporate culture and giving some advice on how to best succeed in the market in which the organisation operates.