Senior Sales Manager
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The Senior Sales Manager leads and manages all sales operations and oversees activities of the junior sales management team. The key objective of the Senior Sales Manager is to grow incremental and new sales for the business while simultaneously reducing customer turnover.
The Senior Sales Manager builds and manages all aspects of a sales department inclusive of leading management, account management, business analytics, and channel development. The Senior Sales Manager also works closely with the following departments; Customer Support, Finance, Marketing, and other sales teams for the purpose of ensuring the delivery of first-class delivery experience.
Objectives and Responsibilities of the Senior Sales Manager
Strategy: The Senior Sales Manager plays a strategic role in building creative sales strategies that are focused on consumer satisfaction and revenue generation for the business. In this position, the Senior Sales Manager creates goals that comply with the attainment of the business’s overall objectives and strives to meet and exceed these goals.
The Senior Sales Manager conducts reviews on the existent sales department strategies and weighs them against results in order to identify areas of improvement. He subsequently relays this information to senior sales management for consideration and approval. In this capacity, the Senior Sales Manager creates comprehensive and compelling strategic proposals that challenge the status-quo and convince senior sales management with crystal clear added-value.
Analytics: The Senior Sales Manager also plays an analytical role in conducting research and performing analyses on the performance of the sales department ensuring prompt delivery and accuracy of daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly reports to senior management. This is for the purpose of identifying areas of improvement in the business’s marketing strategies, identifying opportunities and understanding the market and competitive environment.
In this position, the Senior Sales Manager also assesses the amount of resources required by the sales department in order to achieve optimal performance, leading to financial benefit for the business. The Senior Sales Manager tracks sales activities and creates reports that he presents to senior sales management for use in strategic decision making.
Industry Participation: The Senior Sales Manager also has a duty to represent the business beyond the sales department. The Senior Sales Manager participates in tradeshows, sales workshops, sales seminars, and events on behalf of the business. This is for the purpose of collecting qualified leads and pertinent sales information as well as keeping up with market trends in order to ensure that the business does not lag behind of other players.
This is also for the purpose of establishing the business as a thought leader in the market, gaining the respect and trust of consumers and competitors alike. At this capacity, the Senior Sales Manager will serve on industry boards and committees when appropriate and maintain membership in local, national, and international industry organizations.
Relationship: The Senior Sales Manager also has a responsibility in the development and maintenance of relationships on behalf of the sales department and the business as a whole, for example, between the consumers and external partners. The Senior Sales Manager develops and builds relationships and partnerships by being attentive, service-oriented, friendly, helpful, and courteous to customers, colleagues, external partners, and so forth.
In this capacity, the Senior Sales Manager acts as an evangelist for the brand, taking advantage of the relationships and connections that he has established to avidly represent the business, share its vision, increase awareness, and establish more relationships.
Knowledge and Opportunity: The Senior Sales Manager also has a duty to identify and develop new market opportunities for the business. In this capacity, the Senior Sales Manager develops and maintains knowledge of consumer, competitor, and market trends. He stays up-to-date with industry best practices and standards through attending events and seminars, attending individual and group training programs, and reading industry publications and newsletters.
In this capacity, the Senior Sales Manager then communicates the information he acquires to the sales department for the purpose of maximizing on sales opportunities, keeping the department and the business at par with the latest trends and best practices, giving the business a competitive edge and solidifying its position as a market leader.
Collaboration: The Senior Sales Manager also plays a collaborative role, partnering up with the finance department to ensure availability of sufficient funds for the sales department in order to ensure optimal performance. He also partners with the marketing department in ensuring that strategies and objectives are aligned, ensuring that marketing initiatives support sales efforts and that these strategies are all aligned to the business’s overall objectives. In his collaborative role, the Senior Sales Manager also works closely with senior sales management in the creation of new sales strategies and approaches.
Other Duties: The Senior Sales Manager also performs other duties as are necessary in the execution of his duties and any other duties delegated by the Head of Sales, Director of Sales, and the Chief Sales Officer.
Required Qualifications of the Senior Sales Manager
Education: The Senior Sales Manager must have a bachelor’s degree (master’s preferred) in Communications, Business Administration, Business Management, Marketing, or any other related filed. An equivalent of this requirement in working experience is also acceptable.
Experience: A candidate for this position must have had working experience of at least 5 years in a sales position within a complex and fast-paced business environment, preferably as a Sales Manager. A suitable candidate will also demonstrate experience in sales research and how raw information and data is processed to become useful insights that assist the sales department in establishing appropriate strategies that lead to the achievement of goals and targets.
A suitable candidate will have established contacts and relationships within the business’s industry in addition to having experience working with sales account databases and CRM platforms. He will also have exceptional sales skills and a consistent track record in sales conversion success and performance
Communications Skills: Communication skills are a must have for this position, in both verbal and written form. These skills are especially necessary in building relationships with consumers and external partners. Additionally, the clarity of communication between the Senior Sales Manager and the junior sales and collaborating personnel will also be a determinant of the overall performance in the department. The Senior Sales Manager must also be in a position to convey even the most complex information and insights in his reports in a simple, clear, and convincing manner, tailoring messages to suit various audiences.
The Senior Sales Manager must also be a story-teller who is able to sell the brand to potential clients and secure more sales for the business. In addition to this, the Senior Sales Manager must also be a great listener with ability to clarify and resolve issues and concerns of consumers, external partners, senior personnel, junior personnel etc.
Ms Office: The Senior Sales Manager must be highly proficient in Ms Word and PowerPoint, which are necessary for the creation of visually, and verbally engaging reports and presentations for senior sales management, external partners, junior sales personnel, collaborating personnel, and stakeholders.
Analytics: A candidate for this position must also demonstrate strong analytical skills and an ability to assimilate complex data and information from disparate sources and process it to address a certain need or issue in the sales department. The candidate will be highly proficient with research solutions to sales as well as effectiveness measurement systems.
In this capacity, the Senior Sales Manager will conduct regular research and analyses on the business’s market and competitive environment, looking for opportunities to further the sales department’s goals by adjusting strategies and approaches that enhance efficiency and performance.
Interpersonal Skills: Certain interpersonal skills will be necessary for a Senior Sales Manager, for example, he will be passionate and highly energetic in his work, he will be self-motivated and work under minimal supervision, and he will be proactive and have an insatiable appetite for knowledge. The candidate must also portray a strong ability to handle multiple projects and meet deadlines, he must also have an ability to work well in group-settings, and have an ability to remain calm under stressful scenarios and uncertainty.
People Skills: Due to the high-interaction levels that come with the position, a candidate must possess an ability to build trust within a large and diverse environment. Also, being a representative of the business’s image, the Senior Sales Manager must be an approachable individual who is easy to get along with and who possesses an ability to form long-lasting and meaningful relationships with others on behalf of the business.