What is the manager’s job? This will be discussed in this article. Previously, in conditions of a shortage of goods and a planned economy, the main focus of enterprises was on the production process, not sales. Commodity expert, seller, marketer - not prestigious work at that time.
The sales manager began to appear at enterprises only in the nineties of the twentieth century, when the owners of small firms began to pay more attention to the marketing of their own products. This specialist should be the link between buyers and manufacturers (or trade organizations).
Essence of work
The main areas of work of the sales manager:
- communication with customers;
- detailed understanding of the type of product and its properties in order to satisfy customers.
At the same time, you need to know some technologies and have certain skills for regular sales.
What is the manager’s job? This is not just selling goods. This is a kind of system for organizing the work of a specialist, aimed at developing a distribution network and increasing sales volumes.
However, there is an opinion that the manager’s work is not prestigious. However, this is the most popular specialty. The current situation is related to the orientation of the economic system to the service sector. It is the customer service manager that helps ensure the financial well-being of most enterprises. His life is mainly spent in constant telephone conversations.
The essence of the sales manager’s job is to sell goods through intermediaries that deliver them to stores or outlets. To ensure uniformity and consistency in sales, it is necessary to maintain and establish partnerships with customers. And after signing the contract, the manager must monitor the fulfillment by the parties to the contract of their obligations, as well as the delivery of goods. In other words, the customer service manager should do everything possible so that consumers do not regret the purchase and contact the form again.
Sales Manager Profession: Pros and Cons
Positive aspects of this specialty:
- it is necessary to constantly improve the level of education;
- getting pleasure from a successful transaction;
- irregular working hours;
- There is an opportunity for self-realization and making good money.
Cons of this profession:
- high responsibility;
- signs of spontaneity;
- limit level of dynamism of work;
- high level of analytics;
- constant control.
Personal qualities
Firstly, the manager must thoroughly know the market in order to respond in time to any changes in it. He must have communicative competence. In other words, to be able to listen to others, to take the position of a partner and be able to win over others. One must be able to speak in such a way that people understand.
It is necessary to maintain and maintain contact with the interlocutor even in the event of a conflict, such a job! A sales manager should calmly accept criticism and not focus on problems. An important role in acquiring such skills is given to special higher education. It provides an understanding of what a manager’s job is.
Also specialist areas of activity creative abilities should be inherent: be able to generate their ideas, be creative in making decisions on emerging problems and interacting with potential customers.
How to become a sales specialist
As already mentioned above, for a thorough understanding of the characteristics of the profession, it is necessary to get an appropriate education. So, if you plan to sell clothes, then you need to finish a higher educational institution in the textile field, and when selling tractors, the faculty that is associated with the automotive industry.
What areas does the manager work in?
Remote work is the most convenient mode of fulfilling one's functional duties. You can distinguish such specializations, depending on the type of sale object:
- manufactured goods;
- consumer goods;
- services.
The profession of manager is widely used in wholesale trade. In some companies, these specialists work directly with consumers (for example, when selling large and expensive goods), while in others they work with distribution companies that purchase goods and then deliver them to stores. You can often find a situation where a manager’s work plan combines both the first and second sales schemes.
At first glance, it may seem that the activities of such a specialist are constant phone calls, tedious customer searches, as well as negotiations. However, it should be noted that the manager’s work is quite interesting. His responsibilities may include collecting and analyzing information, presenting projects, developing documentation, concluding contracts, and working at various exhibitions. Also, this specialist must constantly monitor the timely delivery of goods.
Career Management
Senior managers say that after several years at the initial (lowest) position, it will be possible to become the head of the sales department.
And this is already an interesting work, which includes the organization and planning of the department, controlling the sales volume, as well as negotiating with a certain category of customers.
The main task facing managers is to increase sales volumes, search for new potential customers, promote their goods or services to the market. In this case, it is necessary to seek favorable conditions for cooperation. In this case, you can conduct a conversation from a slightly different angle - strategic. And this is an analysis of a functioning market with the development of opportunities for expanding sales, evaluating potential counterparties, as well as business planning.
Sales Manager Income
As you know, sellers always had a salary an order of magnitude higher than manufacturers. However, there are some nuances. So, at the initial stage, sales specialists have a small income, since they get the bulk of money from interest from transactions concluded by them. The beginner does not yet have his own client base, which will be developed in the future.
The monthly income of a lower-level manager at a trading company is in the range of 15-20 thousand rubles. Head salary sales department - 30-90 thousand rubles.
In addition to the salary, a candidate for a manager’s position can be offered training (moreover, free of charge), bonuses or a high percentage of sales. There is a search option part-time work. Also in the social package may include corporate holidays.
However, the basis of the sales manager’s earnings is the number of attracted customers. This specialist should in any way form his own client base, often using the services of enterprises, for example, in the form of a created site. Also, the manager’s income is directly dependent on the sales and prestige of the product. The same criterion is taken into account by top managers of a trading company when selecting employees.
Demand for Sales Professionals
Today, about a quarter of vacancies in the labor market belong to sales managers.It can be argued that this is one of the most sought after positions in any enterprise. It is on the competence of these people that the profit of the company depends. However, despite the large number of specialists of this orientation in the labor market, there are few true professionals.
Most employers require candidates to have a thorough knowledge of the core market, major suppliers and customers. Among the requirements there is also the necessary experience in a similar field of activity and knowledge of all the specifics of the industry.
findings
Thus, in this article we tried to figure out what the work of a manager is. They also spoke about the main priorities in choosing this profession and the requirements put forward by employers to candidates.
The work of the manager can be associated with certain stresses of a neuropsychic nature, which are caused by financial responsibility, as well as constant communication with various clients. It is important that the specialist in this field had good analytical skills.
