Job description - Commercial Manager

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Among the Sales & Business Development jobs, the Sales Manager is the middle station Between the leaders of the company (commercial director) and the Commercials.

He coaches the team of sales professionals and helps them achieve the goals set by management. The challenge of this type of management is to manage to match the requests of decision-makers with the resources of the team. To achieve this, the manager must demonstrate several skills.

Sales Manager: the definition according to Akimbo

A professional and effective Sales Manager does more than just supervise and structure the sales team. In addition to coordinating activities related to sales, business strategy and development, he motivates, guides and advises his team. It is these actions that allow him to maximize performance commercial.

What is commercial management?

Sales management is an activity that requires being as close as possible to teams.

It is about:

• on the one hand to learn to Know salespeople well in order to give them the right territories and tools.
• on the other hand to keep an eye on the market in order to Understand the obstacles challenges that the sales team faces and to help them overcome them.

Proximity management carried out by the Sales Manager is essential to align strategic decisions and actions in the field.

What is the role and missions of a Sales Manager?

Sales manager

The Sales Manager is responsible for the application of the commercial strategy.

That means:

• collaborate with the sales team.
• coordinate tasks and develop sales techniques to meet the strategy.
• manage customer and supplier relationships.
• parse commercial performance in order to increase sales.
• build loyalty customers and keep the team motivated.

Sales team management

The team managed by the Sales Manager is often composed of various jobs. To manage effectively, the manager must implement actions that aim at collective efficiency as well as actions that support individual performance.

As a leader, he participate in sales activities when necessary, supervise and guide his team. He Adapted its management style to the profiles and difficulties encountered.

Develop an action plan

Identifying commercial issues allows the Sales Manager to create a realistic action plan in response to the company's overall goals. He must be ready to modify it to adapt to internal or external changes. He also ensures that the team understands and applies it well.

Why become a Sales Manager?

Becoming a Sales Manager offers several advantages. It is a stimulating job with both managerial and commercial responsibilities.

Les missions are numerous and varied (sales, leadership, customer management...). In particular, they lead to exchanges with various interlocutors (managers, sales representatives).

Also, holding this role offers the opportunity to lead a team while actively participating in the growth of the company. So it's a rewarding profession which leads to making key decisions and having a significant impact on sales results. It's a profession collaborative and strategic.

How do you become a good Sales Manager?

Skills required

• Know how to manage a team

The Sales Manager must inspire and motivate his sales teams on a daily basis. He must give feedback to salespeople to help them progress and coach them regularly because he is responsible for talent development in addition to recruiting them.

• Know and master sales and negotiation techniques

The Sales Manager must demonstrate that he is in control Of sales techniques And of negotiation effective in gaining credibility with team members.

• Know how to manage and communicate within a team

The Sales Manager must promote collaboration but also be alert to conflicts. He must adapt your communication according to his interlocutors. Mastering active listening will be of great help to him.

• Know how to manage projects and analyze activity

The missions of a Sales Manager require knowing manage effectively its times And his work. To organize the tasks of his team, he prioritizes according to deadlines. To optimize commercial activity, iI brings its expertise on issues ofdata analysis And ofindicators of performance.

‍ Adapted conversion profiles

The right profiles for the role of Sales Manager generally have a experiment As Commercial, Account/Customer Manager or Entrepreneurs.

These paths allowed them to acquire good skills in leadership, team management and business analysis.

What are the qualities of a Sales Manager?

• Have a sense of leadership

The Sales Manager is a leader who has the capacity Ofinspire And of federate one team.

• Be persistent

This job requires organization and versatility. The Sales Manager must juggle between its managerial responsibilities and commercial to achieve ambitious goals.

• Be a good communicator

He must be able to clearly convey his expectations and decisions. He must have a sense of relationships to guarantee a climate of trust, without tensions, in his team but also with external actors (suppliers, customers, etc...).

• Know how to make decisions and adapt

The Sales Manager obtains strategic directives from his hierarchy but it is he who decides to manage and Plan activities in the field. It must be Strength of proposal and put the customer at the center of its concerns. He must also be creative in order to overcome the obstacles identified.

What studies and training should you follow to become a Sales Manager?

Bootcamp courses like Akimbo

To become a Sales Manager, the candidate can follow a training course Bootcamp offered by organizations such as Akimbo. These commercial training courses, supervised by Expert coaches In business development, teach Methods of work that allow you to excel in sales jobs. The courses are accompanied byapps concrete and real on behalf of partner start-ups who also finance training. The Akimbo Bootcamp is in fact free when candidates choose to join one of these companies after the training.

The BTS Operational Commercial Management

The BTS Operational Commercial Management (MCO) is a level course Bac+2 focused on commercial and managerial skills. This degree aims to train professionals who can manage commercial activities and contribute to business performance. This course offers training for trades in commerce and sales with interesting career prospects.

The Master Commercial Management

The Master in Commercial Management is a level course Bac+5 that allows you to deepen the skills in marketing, business management, strategy and leadership. This diploma follows a bac +3 training in one of these fields. It is generally delivered at business schools, engineering schools or universities.

Alternance Commercial Manager

Some courses (schools, universities) offer work-study courses providing professional training and integration into the business world. These solutions are more and more in demand and make it possible to develop skills more quickly than by following a purely theoretical path.

What is the salary of a Sales Manager?

How much does a Sales Manager earn?

On average, a Sales Manager earns between €35K and 45 K€ gross per year in France.

However, this amount may vary depending on sector, The waistline of the company and the town where it operates.

Business Development & Sales jobs generally receive remuneration in the form of a package. These wages are composed of a fixed part and a variable part.

The fixed portion is paid regardless of the performance of the Sales Manager.

The variable portion depends on the sales objectives achieved and the terms and conditions of the companies.

Junior Sales Manager

At the beginning of a career, the average salary for a Sales Manager is generally in the range between €25K and €30K annual gross.

‍ Senior Sales Manager

After several years of experience as a Sales Manager, workers can earn up to €50K annual gross.

What are the career developments in this position?

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After a few years of experience, the Sales Manager may want to evolve and take on new responsibilities. His expertise in management but also in business allows him to apply for various positions.

It can continue to evolve as a Commercial director. He will then have more management and decision-making responsibilities.

He also has the possibility of accessing other commercial management positions such as that of Account, Agency or Region Manager.

It can also be launched as Independent consultant if he wants to.

How do I find a Commercial Manager job offer?

To find a job offer as a Sales Manager, the candidate can apply on:

• The online job boards (Indeed, Welcome to The Jungle...).
• The business sites.
• The social networks (LinkedIn). These tools are perfect for mobilizing your network and getting your profile relayed. They also make it easy to be aware of recruitment campaigns.

To get a job, the candidate will have to prove his experience as well as the skills that make his profile relevant for the company. Son RESUME, sound LinkedIn profile And his speeches will have to be Up to date and prepared.

What are the tools of a Sales Manager?

The Sales Manager needs numerous platforms and tools to fulfill his daily missions.

• The CRM (SalesForce, Hubspot) to manage and monitor sales activity and customer relationships.
• The commercial dashboard to monitor the progress of the action plan and performance indicators.
• Les data analysis tools (Google Analytics 4, Excel) to analyze and interpret market trends.
• Les project management tools (Notion, Trello) to collaborate and monitor ongoing projects more easily.
• Les automation tools No code (Zapier).
• Les communication tools internally such as Slack, but also externally thanks to social networks. These platforms ensure smooth communication within the company and facilitate competitive intelligence.

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