Skills
Sales Manager Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in sales managers, and how to build and show them.
What skills do sales managers need?
Sales Managers need technical skills such as sales forecasting, pipeline management, and coaching, plus people skills like leadership and motivation. They also use tools such as CRM systems and Sales analytics dashboards.
Technical (hard) skills
- Sales forecasting
- Pipeline management
- Coaching
- Hiring
- CRM analytics
- Territory planning
People (soft) skills
- Leadership
- Motivation
- Communication
- Decision making
Tools, equipment and technology
- CRM systems
- Sales analytics dashboards
- Spreadsheets
- Video conferencing
- Sales enablement tools
- Compensation planning tools
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how sales managers put their skills to work:
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Sales forecasting” and “Pipeline management.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “leadership,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as Certified Sales Leader near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our sales manager glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Sales Manager training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.