Comparing Sales Managers to Brand Managers
Sales managers supervise sales teams for an organization, while brand managers focus on the marketing aspect of an organization. Though they both may work for the same organization, their duties are very different. Here you can learn more about these managerial career options that focus on efficiently running an area of an organization.
| Job Title | Education Requirements | Median Salary | Job Growth (2020-2030)* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales Manager | Bachelor's Degree | $127,490 (2021)* | 7% |
| Brand Manager | Bachelor's Degree | $72,999 (2022)** | 10% (for all marketing managers) |
Sources: *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, **PayScale.com
Responsibilities of Sales Manager vs. Brand Manager
Sales and brand managers both hold an important role within an organization or business to ensure that the business runs smoothly. Sales managers are responsible for the selling of products and services for a business. On the other hand, brand managers, which are specialized marketing managers, develop trademarks to be used for their product. Essentially, brand managers are used in part of the creation of the product before it goes to be sold by a sales manager and their team.
Sales Manager
Sales managers direct the sales of products and services in the organization they are part of. They must have quality leadership skills to effectively lead a group of sales workers and motivate them to sell the products they have. They must understand data from sales to project future sales and develop new strategies to use. Though most of their job requires them to lead their team, they also must have excellent customer service skills to help customers when needed. Travel is usually required in this profession because they typically need to meet with different distributors.
Job responsibilities of a sales manager include:
- Supervising and training staff
- Handling customer complaints
- Reviewing sales statistics
- Ensuring profit on sales
- Developing sales quotas
Brand Manager
Brand managers create a brand or trademark for an organization to use with products that markets that the product is theirs. They must be creative in formulating the brand. They typically work as part of the marketing team, so they must have good communication skills and be able to work well with others. Their overall goal is to efficiently market products, activities, initiatives or programs for an organization. Brand managers must have analytical skills to understand the marketing trends and produce a brand based off of that information. This profession often requires travel to meet with clients or the media, though most of their work is done in an office setting.
Job responsibilities of a brand manager include:
- Assessing market conditions
- Researching how consumers will respond to the brand
- Developing new strategies to use in marketing
- Creating projects for marketing plans
Related Careers
Sales managers may be interested in a career as an advertising sales agent who mainly works with finding advertisement space for clients to sell their products or market their business. Market research analysts share a common goal of brand managers, which is to efficiently market an organization.
