Guide To A Sales Manager Career Path

Anyone with a competitive streak will be hard-pressed to find a more exciting industry than retail sales. A performance-based job in sales is rewarding; after all, the more you sell, the more you earn. But it is also uncertain, especially for Malaysian sales professionals who are racing to adapt as the pandemic continues to affect the country’s retail industry. If you have a passion for sales and like a good challenge, then the Sales Manager career path may be for you.

(Read more: Top 7 Personality Test to Help You Determine Your Career Path)

What does a sales manager do?

Sales managers lead teams to reach or exceed their companies’ established sales targets. They are responsible for growing company profits without sacrificing customer satisfaction by assembling, training, and motivating a team that can efficiently carry out their companies’ sales programs and activities.

A sales manager’s tasks are varied and dependent on the size of the company they work for. These are some of the roles they may be expected to perform:

• Help set sales targets, strategies, and campaigns for the company
• Design and implement effective sales processes for the sales team
• Interview, hire, and train new sales employees
• Monitor performance of existing sales staff
• Motivate sales team to deliver excellent customer service, improve their efficiency, and meet sales quotas
• Work with other internal departments such as the Marketing or Product teams
• Prepare sales reports, P&L statements, and other related documents
• Solve problems for clients and customers by developing innovative and tailored sales solutions

Salary Range

According to Payscale, the average base salary for a Sales Manager in Malaysia is RM 85,000. This does not include annual bonuses that can range from RM 8,000-30,000, and commissions that can range from RM 1-98,000. 

Other factors such as years of experience, additional training and experience in customer relationship management, and business development skills may affect this salary quote.

What is the career path of a sales manager?

Junior Level (1-3 years experience)

• Sales Representative
• Sales Associate

Mid Level (4-8 years experience) 

• Account Executive
• Sales Manager

Senior level (8 years or more) 

• Sales Director

What requirements do you need to become a sales manager?

Required skills

• Leadership Skills

Leadership skills are key to a sales manager’s career. Being innovative, strategic, humble, and decisive in how you run your team, as well as being an excellent motivator with a coach-like mindset, will help you steer your sales team towards success in this highly competitive industry.

• Sales Skills

Though this is primarily a people management role, the sales manager’s core objective is still to achieve growth for companies through sales. Therefore, he must be a very experienced salesperson with good negotiation skills.

• Customer Relationship Management Skills

Sales is all about building and maintaining relationships with customers. Excellent customer service skills and continuous training in Customer Relationship Management are essential. Of course, genuine enjoyment of meeting people will be very helpful.

Other skills

• Adaptiveness

Retail sales is a fast-moving industry, especially in the age of digital selling platforms. Thus, you must have a learner mindset. Always be ready to know the latest product or service inside-out. Be eager to stay on top of trends, updated on the competition, and proactive in learning about the latest industry innovations.

• Empathy

A good sales professional must be able to empathise with people. Knowing how to put yourself in the shoes of the customers enables you to build meaningful relationships with them and productively guide conversations. Empathising with your sales team allows you to set a positive work environment for them, and effectively mentor them so that each member of the team can bring his own unique sales skills to the table.

• Emotional Intelligence

The Sales Manager career path is paved with emotional intelligence. It is easy to enjoy the job when you are getting commission after commission due to hard work. But in the highly competitive field of sales, being able to maintain a positive attitude when setbacks and failure inevitably arise can determine your longevity and happiness in the field.

Educational background

A degree in any of the following courses is usually required by companies looking to hire sales managers.

• Business or Business Administration
• Management
• Marketing
• Finance

These will help the jobseeker thrive at the sales, business, and people management aspects of a sales manager’s job. However, some companies put more emphasis on years of experience in sales. Even if you enter the field as a sales representative with no formal training in sales, management or business, with a passion and enthusiasm for learning on the job, you may find yourself then rising through the ranks to become a sales manager in due course.

Opportunities for Continuous Education

For further learning, companies usually provide constant training to their sales force through seminars and weekend programs. Throughout the Sales Manager career path, you may also find it useful to upskill on your own through books and free online courses on different topics ranging from basic sales concepts to new digital customer trends.

How to write a sales resume?

Download the sales manager resume template here

Related Careers

• Sales Executive
• Advertising Sales Agents
• Market Research Analysts
• Public Relations Specialists

Get More Career Insights from JobStreet

Working in retail sales is thrilling, but is it right for you? Before buying into the sales manager career path, consider the responsibilities, requirements, and challenges that come with the role.

So, are you ready to meet the exciting challenge of retail sales? Close the deal on the Sales Manager career path by updating your JobStreet profile and searching for #JobsThatMatter. 

For more career advice, visit the Career Resources page. To get a pulse on trends among fellow sales managers in Malaysia and around the globe, download JobStreet’s Decoding Global Talent reports today.