Sales/Operations Manager
The main responsibility of a sales manager is typically to ensure the sales aspect of a business runs run smoothly and efficiently. Reporting to the sales president or vice president, the sales manager heads the sales team and in some cases oversees the administrative staff. As a member of management, sales managers carry a significant amount of responsibility.
Using strategies learned from business experience and formal training, the sales manager coaches the sales team, tracks progress towards short and long term objectives, and ensures sales quotas are met. Positions of this sort require strong interpersonal and organizational skills in addition to written and spoken communication skills. Sales managers may also be in charge of hiring and training sales staff.
The advent of e-commerce has increased the demand for sales professionals and sales and operations managers. E-commerce businesses and their partners hire sales managers to head advertising sales teams, enhance online presence, and keep up with a steadily changing industry. In order to gain a position with a successful e-commerce business, a sales manager would need more than a traditional sales background. A sales manager hoping to land a desirable position with an e-commerce would likely need a background in technology and a degree in science or a technical field.
Most sales managers begin in entry-level sales positions and work their way up to management. Experience paired with quality education is generally seen as a winning combination in management, and most companies will encourage prospective managers to pursue higher education. Degrees in Business Administration, Marketing, and Public Relations are common among sales managers. A Bachelor of Science in Sales and Marketing is also useful.
Professionals in sales and operations may find it difficult to work full-time and take college level courses. Weekend programs and online colleges are often a better fit for working students. The flexibility of online colleges is often appealing, because these programs allow students to choose when and where they study. Also, many professionals are accustomed to using the same tools in business that online colleges have applied to education. Chat rooms, emails, video lectures bulletin boards and instant messages create an interactive virtual campus and give students a quality educational experience. For some professionals in sales, online colleges are the only programs flexible enough to allow them to advance a career without having to take time away from it.