The Sales Manager Job Description to Attract Right Candidate [Template]

The sales manager role is critical to an organization because of the individual's direct influence on revenue-generating activities. Your sales reps need someone to hold them accountable, review their performance, and coach them on how to grow their skills. 

But before you can start interviewing candidates, you need to draw them in with a well-written, accurate, compelling job description that describes the role, the necessary qualifications and experience, and your culture.

Here's the anatomy of a sales manager job description so that you can get started finding the right person to take your organization's sales goals to the next level:

• Responsibilities
• Qualifications
• Skills

From there, check out these resources to draw inspiration from:

• Sales Manager Job Description Sample
• Sales Manager Job Description Example

Writing a job description to attract top-quality candidates can be difficult, but we'll guide you through the process. Want to get straight to a template? Click here. Looking to hire a different role on your sales team? Check out The Ultimate Guide to Sales Hiring.

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Sales Manager Responsibilities

The "Responsibilities" section of a job description is critical because it paints a picture of what the role will be like. Applicants will then be able to decide if they see themselves in the position. The key is to describe the objectives and tasks you expect the sales manager to successfully complete on a weekly or monthly basis.

Here are some sales manager responsibilities to add to your job description.

1. Hit Quota

The incoming sales manager should be expected to motivate their team of sales reps to hit (or exceed) the quotas set during each sales period.

2. Mentor and Train Sales Reps

The candidate should understand their responsibility to help their team of sales reps develop their skills. This should include facilitating regular performance management reviews with their reps to provide feedback and coaching.

3. Recruit, Hire, and Onboard New Salespeople

Sales managers are often responsible for building their own teams (or for working alongside HR to build their team). In many roles, sales managers are in charge of recruiting, interviewing, extending job offers to, and training new salespeople for a smooth transition into the team.

4. Create Sales Forecasts

Forecasting is critical for setting sales goals that drive business growth. Experienced sales managers should understand how to create realistic sales forecasts factoring in historical data and your company’s business objectives.

5. Analyze Performance Data

Effective sales managers are able to analyze performance metrics to make data-driven decisions and provide effective coaching to their team.

6. Design and Implement Sales Strategy

Providing strategic direction for their organization is a key function for sales managers. A candidate should demonstrate the ability to create, implement, and measure the success of a sales strategy.

7. Continuously Iterate on Sales Process

Having a sales process in place can streamline the daily responsibilities of every member of the team. The organization’s sales manager should be the ultimate champion for their team’s sales process, ensuring the process is followed and striving for continuous improvement.

Want a more interesting — and often more comprehensive — way to communicate these responsibilities beyond the typical bulleted list? Describe a "week in the life of" your sales manager.

Here’s an example.

In a typical week at [company], here are some of the things you’ll do:

• Get coffee with a new salesperson to talk about how they’re doing
• Have a meeting with Product to share customer feedback and discuss the product roadmap
• Present quarterly sales performance to the executives
• Have a team huddle to announce new contest

And so on.

Sales Manager Qualifications & Requirements

The "Qualifications" section is where you outline the candidate you think will do the above job the best, the person you can see in the role.

Because this role is crucial to the bottom line, you want someone with experience coaching teams and analyzing performance. At the same time, sales is a field where soft skills are critical, so you don't want to discourage interested candidates from applying. In the qualifications and skills sections, applicants will be evaluating who you're looking for and how they match up.

Consider separating separate qualifications into "required" and "desired." Companies tend to view job descriptions as wishlists, while candidates see them as "must haves." Noting which credentials aren’t mandatory increases the odds someone who’s 90% perfect will apply.

Defining Your "Must-Haves"

As you consider your organization's needs, identify the minimum qualifications that a candidate would need to be considered. These will be your "Must-haves."

Use these four parameters to help you define your "must-haves" list:

• Technical: Familiarity with CRM and other necessary software
• Leadership: Prior management roles or willingness to receive management training
• Education: How much education or prior training is required to be successful in the role
• Experience: How much prior experience (required and desired) is needed to be successful

Try to steer clear of bland, generic phrases in this section. Who doesn’t describe themselves as a hard worker or goal-oriented? Being more specific makes your job description stand out; plus, the right personalities will find you more easily. For instance, you might write, "We’re looking for someone who’s comfortable joking around with their team while maintaining professional boundaries."

Defining Your "Nice-to-Haves"

In this section, consider the attributes, skills, or experiences that would make a candidate stand out from the rest. These would be your "nice-to-haves." Including such a list gives applicants more information to help them sell themselves more effectively when they submit their cover letter to you.

Here are some ideas for your "nice-to-haves" list:

• Type of sales: Inside versus field
• Market: SMB, mid-market, enterprise, Fortune 1000, Fortune 500
• Industry: Healthcare, tech, hospitality, education, etc.
• Region: West coast, Latin America, Midwest, etc.

Great sales managers check the majority — if not all — of these boxes.

1. Analysis Skills

Sales managers need to review data, see what's relevant, draw meaningful conclusions, and find actionable takeaways.

2. Strategic Planning Abilities

Once they've gathered the evidence, they need to identify the next steps. Most decisions involve making tradeoffs.

3. Strong Communication Skills

Sales managers must deliver information efficiently and accurately to the right people, at the right time, using the right medium.

4. Collaboration and Motivation Skills

They should be good at working with others — from their fellow managers to other department leaders. To keep their reps on-track and motivated, sales managers demonstrate a genuine passion for their team's mission.

5. Delegation Skills

Rather than trying to do everything themselves, sales managers know when to delegate to their team for maximum effectiveness.

6. Ability to Remain Calm Under Pressure

The role of a sales manager is highly challenging and always changing. Sales managers must be able to cope with daily stresses that come with the job.

7. Good People Skills

Sales managers should be able to effectively collaborate and work well with their peers, leadership, and direct reports.

Sales Manager Job Description Template

[Company] is looking for an experienced sales manager with experience in [X industry].

As our sales manager, you will:

• Set a vision for the team
• Provide a process
• Coach your salespeople to use the process and achieve the vision

On a weekly basis, you will:

• Meet with reps to provide feedback, support, and training
• Accurately forecast on a weekly and monthly cadence to meet and exceed quotas
• Track sales team metrics and report data to leadership on regular basis
  Lead weekly and/or monthly meetings with sales team and leadership
• Implement performance plans
• Develop sales contests and incentives to drive performance
• Manage day-to-day performance of sales reps and deliver reviews

Required qualifications:

• X+ years of management experience
• X+ years of direct sales experience
• Familiarity with [X type of sales process]
• Excellent coaching skills; ability to observe, evaluate, and give meaningful feedback
• Strong analytical skills

Desired qualifications:

• Familiarity with [X CRM]
• Understanding of [industry/vertical]
• [Existing relationships/strong network] in [industry/vertical]

Sales Manager Job Description Example

Here's an example of a real sales manager job description at HubSpot:

Hiring sales managers is an art — and almost as important as making your first sales hire. Source a great one, and you'll be well on your way to building a high-performing sales team. 

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.