The manager has to be highly influential on his or her team. He or she may need to show them the way by making some telephone calls for some of them or going out into the field with some of them. The manager always has to be exemplary, personally and professionally.
One of the most difficult traits that sales managers have to impart to or instill in his salesmen is ''savvy.'' They have to be confident in trusting their instincts with prospects, and confident in sticking to their scripts and proven sales techniques. They have to sense when to interject some humor, when to be pushy, and when to take it easy.
Sales management positions don't necessarily require any certain education. If you want to try to get a sales management job right out of college you'll need an MBA. But, the vast majority of sales managers have been promoted up from sales positions, and those jobs don't typically require even a college degree—they require aptitude. To become a sales manager, experience and demonstrated ability are what matter the most.
The average compensation for U.S. sales managers is $60,000 a year. Sales managers are usually compensated at least in part by overrides or bonuses paid out on how their sales force performs. So the sales agents' success is in the sales managers’ best interests.
