Profession sales manager

Sales department managers plan, direct and coordinate the sales and marketing activities of an enterprise or organisation, or of enterprises that provide sales and marketing services to other enterprises and organisations.

Personality Type

• Enterprising / Conventional

Related professions support services (internal)

• Advertising clerk
• Advertising department manager
• Bookkeeper
• Buyer
• Buyer agricultural products
• Buyer technical products
• Cartographer
• Catering worker
• Cleaning supervisor
• Cost estimator
• Education administrator
• Financial department manager
• Fundraiser
• Handyman
• IT user support technician
• Land surveyor
• Logistics worker
• Marketing department manager
• Marketing professional
• Personnel department manager
• Personnel planning clerk
• Production or operations manager
• Public relations department manager
• Public relations officer, advisor
• Purchasing department manager
• Receptionist, telephonist
• Sailor
• Sales representative
• Sales representative agricultural products
• Sales representative technical products
• Sales representative, all other products
• Technical illustrator
• Transport clerk
• Transport scheduling clerk
• Writer of technical texts

Knowledge

• Brand marketing techniques

  The methods and systems used in researching and establishing a brand identity for marketing purposes.

• Content marketing strategy

  The process of creation and share of media and publishing content in order to acquire customers.

• Sales argumentation

  Techniques and sales methods used in order to present a product or service to customers in a persuasive manner and to meet their expectations and needs.

• Market pricing

  Price volatility according to market and price elasticity, and the factors which influence pricing trends and changes in the market in the long and short term.

• Pricing strategies

  The techniques, theories, and commonly accepted strategies regarding pricing of goods. The relation between pricing strategies and outcomes in the market such as profitability maximisation, deterrence of newcomers, or increase of market share.

• Corporate social responsibility

  The handling or managing of business processes in a responsible and ethical manner considering the economic responsibility towards shareholders as equally important as the responsibility towards environmental and social stakeholders.

• Sales strategies

  The principles concerning customer behaviour and target markets with the aim of promotion and sales of a product or a service.

• Sales department processes

  The different processes, duties, jargon, role in an organisation, and other specificities of the sales department within an organisation.

• Marketing mix

  Principle of marketing that describes the four fundamental elements in marketing strategies which are the product, the place, the price and the promotion.

Skills

• Motivate employees

  Communicate with employees in order to ensure that their personal ambitions are in line with the business goals, and that they work to meet them.

• Impart business plans to collaborators

  Diffuse, present, and communicate business plans and strategies to managers, employees making sure that objectives, actions, and important messages are properly conveyed.

• Study sales levels of products

  Collect and analyse sales levels of products and services in order to use this information for determining the quantities to be produced in the following batches, customer feedback, price trends, and the efficiency of sales methods.

• Manage staff

  Manage employees and subordinates, working in a team or individually, to maximise their performance and contribution. Schedule their work and activities, give instructions, motivate and direct the workers to meet the company objectives. Monitor and measure how an employee undertakes their responsibilities and how well these activities are executed. Identify areas for improvement and make suggestions to achieve this. Lead a group of people to help them achieve goals and maintain an effective working relationship among staff.

• Make strategic business decisions

  Analyse business information and consult directors for decision making purposes in a varied array of aspects affecting the prospect, productivity and sustainable operation of a company. Consider the options and alternatives to a challenge and make sound rational decisions based on analysis and experience.

• Identify potential markets for companies

  Observe and analyse market research findings in order to determine promising and profitable markets. Consider the firm's specific advantage and match it with markets where such value proposition is missing.

• Analyse external factors of companies

  Perform research and analysis of the external factor pertaining to companies such as consumers, position in the market, competitors, and political situation.

• Develop professional network

  Reach out to and meet up with people in a professional context. Find common ground and use your contacts for mutual benefit. Keep track of the people in your personal professional network and stay up to date on their activities.

• Track key performance indicators

  Identify the quantifiable measures that a company or industry uses to gauge or compare performance in terms of meeting their operational and strategic goals, using preset performance indicators.

• Prepare visual data

  Prepare charts and graphs in order to present data in a visual manner.

• Implement sales strategies

  Carry out the plan to gain competitive advantage on the market by positioning the company's brand or product and by targeting the right audience to sell this brand or product to.

• Integrate strategic foundation in daily performance

  Reflect on the strategic foundation of companies, meaning their mission, vision, and values in order to integrate this foundation in the performance of the job position.

• Analyse internal factors of companies

  Research and understand various internal factors that influence the operation of companies such as its culture, strategic foundation, products, prices, and available resources.

• Define measurable marketing objectives

  Outline the measurable performance indicators of the marketing plan such as market share, customer value, brand awareness, and sales revenues. Follow up on the progress of these indicators during the development of the marketing plan.

• Set sales goals

  Set sales goals and objectives to be reached by a sales team within a period of time such as the target amount of sales made and new customers found.

• Coordinate marketing plan actions

  Manage the overview of the marketing actions such as the marketing planning, internal financial resource granting, advertising materials, implementation, control, and communication efforts.

• Analyse consumer buying trends

  Analyse buying habits or currently prevalent customer behaviour.

• Supervise sales activities

  Monitor and oversee the activities related to the ongoing sales in the shop to ensure that sales goals are met, assess areas for improvement, and identify or solve problems that customers could encounter.

• Produce sales reports

  Maintain records of calls made and products sold over a given time frame, including data regarding sales volumes, number of new accounts contacted and the costs involved.

• Perform market research

  Gather, assess and represent data about target market and customers in order to facilitate strategic development and feasibility studies. Identify market trends.

• Manage profitability

  Review on a regular basis sales and profit performance.

• Plan marketing strategy

  Determine the objective of the marketing strategy whether it is for establishing image, implementing a pricing strategy, or raising awareness of the product. Establish approaches of marketing actions to ensure that goals are achieved efficiently and over a long term.

• Analyse customer service surveys

  Analyse results from surveys completed by passengers/customer; analyse results to identify trends and draw conclusions.

• Create annual marketing budget

  Make the calculation of both the income and expenditures that are expected to be paid over the coming year concerning the marketing related activities such as advertising, selling and delivering products to people.

• Align efforts towards business development

  Synchronise the efforts, plans, strategies, and actions carried out in departments of companies towards the growth of business and its turnover. Keep business development as the ultimate outcome of any effort of the company.

• Carry out sales analysis

  Examine sales reports to see what goods and services have and have not sold well.

• Plan marketing campaign

  Develop a method to promote a product through different channels, such as television, radio, print and online platforms, social media with the aim to communicate and deliver value to customers.

• Evaluate marketing content

  Revise, assess, align, and approve marketing material and content defined in the marketing plan. Evaluate written word, images, print or video advertisements, public speeches, and statements in accordance with the marketing objectives.

• Write work-related reports

  Compose work-related reports that support effective relationship management and a high standard of documentation and record keeping. Write and present results and conclusions in a clear and intelligible way so they are comprehensible to a non-expert audience.

• Analyse work-related written reports

  Read and comprehend job-related reports, analyse the content of reports and apply findings to daily work operations.

• Integrate marketing strategies with the global strategy

  Integrate the marketing strategy and its elements such as the market definition, competitors, price strategy, and communication with the general guidelines of the global strategy of the company.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB