Who is a manager and what does he do? What is the essence of remote work of a sales manager

In the business sphere, the profession of a manager is widely known, but at the same time, few people fully understand what the functions of this employee are and what skills he should have. Professionals of this profile are in great demand, and the demand for them is only growing every year. That's just contrary to popular belief, this is not a universal direction. According to workers in the field of vocational guidance, in order to become a sought-after manager, it is not enough to obtain the relevant knowledge. You also need to have a certain mindset, type of character and communication skills.

Who is a "manager"?

A manager is a hired manager who oversees the production, circulation of goods or the provision of services. He manages an organization or department, works remotely or directly in the office.

Management as a direction implies the organization of the work process at all its stages or individual segments. The higher the professionalism of the employee and the longer the list of skills, the wider his authority can be, the greater the salary and the likelihood of career growth.

Functions and duties of managers

To understand what kind of profession it is - a representative of the field of management, it is recommended to study the list of requirements that apply to a manager. It is not so important whether it is about strategic, administrative or production management in question, the employee is obliged to distribute functions between employees, provide them with algorithms for performing tasks and control all processes in the enterprise.

Regardless of the line of business, the list official duties professional includes the following:

  • launching, maintaining and controlling the work of the organization in order to maintain its smooth and efficient functioning;
  • definition of strategic goals and drawing up plans for the implementation of tasks;
  • assessment of the risk levels of the agreements being concluded, compliance with their clauses;
  • analysis of the activities of the enterprise in the personnel sphere, evaluation of the work of personnel, drawing up plans for motivating and encouraging employees;
  • maintaining fruitful communication with business partners;
  • market analysis to identify demand for core products or services;
  • involvement of third-party experts in solving the tasks set by top management.

The managerial profession involves working in different areas whether he manages a small department or a huge enterprise. the main objective this specialist - an increase in the profits of a particular organization or a decrease in its costs.

Classification of management representatives

The description of the manager's profession and the list of his job responsibilities largely depend on the level of management at which the specialist is located. There are three international levels of hierarchy in the direction. Moving up the career ladder is influenced by: education, experience and skills, the ability to apply theoretical knowledge in practice.

What are managers?

  • lower link. The category includes junior bosses who have at least one subordinate. To start a career, you do not even need a specialized education. A striking example of such an employee is a foreman, administrator of a store or service provider, sales manager, head of a department;
  • middle link. In this case, without higher education not enough. Management is carried out at the level of department, workshop, faculty, one of the network points. Such a manager controls the work of lower managers;
  • top tier. This is the smallest category. Even in large enterprises, such managers are represented by a group of only a few people. Often, these workers have diplomas in a number of areas, many years of experience in a specific profile. This includes directors of businesses, stores, educational and other social institutions, productions.

Despite the similar principles of work of managers in all areas, it is better to initially decide on the preferred topic. The direction of career development will help to establish career guidance. Through tests developed by psychologists and statisticians, industries that are most interesting to a particular person are identified.

Advantages and disadvantages of working in the field of management

Before you go to study as a manager, it is recommended to evaluate the pros and cons of the profession. Some points can be viewed from two sides. For example, manager mobility. For some, frequent business trips become a pleasant bonus, for others - an undesirable specificity of work.

David Zaslav - Top manager of Discovery Communications. Salary $156 million

Pros of the direction

As in many other professions, in the field of management you can earn excellent money. At the same time, career prospects are almost limitless. Even senior managers often have room to grow, provided they have the right skills. Managers constantly communicate with people, which allows them to quickly acquire useful connections and, if desired, change the scope of their activities. Another advantage of this choice is the demand for qualified employees. An experienced and ambitious manager will always find a good place for himself.

Cons of the professional sphere

There are negative aspects in the profession of a manager. First, the level of competition in this area is constantly growing. This requires full dedication from employees, constant development, and work on improving skills. Second, managers need to be prepared to work under stress. It is they who are responsible for making decisions, they are responsible for the result. Most managers earn initial stage their careers are low. But their growth is completely dependent on the specialist himself.

One more important point– to work in management, you need to have a special character warehouse, or attend various trainings for development necessary qualities. The characteristic of a person who expects success as a manager looks something like this. This is a bright and self-aware personality with the habits of a leader and the ability to manage people. Additional advantages of a manager are communication skills, an analytical mindset, attentiveness, and a good memory.

How to become a manager

Education in the direction of "management" today is carried out not only in large specialized institutions, but even in regional training organizations.

What subjects you need to take in order to enter the university of management depends on the specifics of the direction. Today, managers are trained by both humanitarian and technical faculties. In the second case, in addition to good knowledge of the Russian language, mathematics and social science, high marks in physics or chemistry may be required. For international management, it is required to additionally pass tests in foreign languages.

At the exit from educational institution a qualified manager should know:

  • fundamentals of law in the field of regulation of commercial and entrepreneurial activities;
  • business strategy and market economy;
  • the specifics of working with personnel;
  • technologies and rules of conduct marketing research, advertising campaigns;
  • basics of taxation, workflow, office work, administration;
  • principles of drawing up business plans, commercial and legal agreements;
  • ethics business communication, the provisions of labor protection;
  • basics of logistics and state certification.

An additional advantage for a manager is the knowledge gained in courses in sociology, psychology, personnel management, the basics of advertising and marketing. It is desirable for a modern manager to own at least one foreign language at a decent level. A person who constantly communicates with people must have correct speech and a high level of literacy.

In my opinion, the profession of a sales manager gives a person the greatest opportunities - both in terms of earnings and growth in the company. A person who has worked in sales clearly understands what the client needs, and can move on to technology, marketing or management.

In this article, I will try to detailed description profession sales manager, highlight all the advantages and disadvantages.

1. The main thing in the profession is clients

Today, the main thing is customers, and manufacturing or delivering a product (service) is a secondary matter. Some do not even produce it themselves, but outsource this troublesome business. For example, a company promotes new brand vodka, and orders production at various factories. Online stores often do not have a warehouse or their own couriers. They just sell the product and ship it from the warehouse wholesale supplier ordering a courier in a third-party organization.

Whoever has contact with the client orders the music. After all, it is not without reason that in order to supply goods to chain supermarkets, it is necessary to pay for the “entrance”. In fact, payment is taken for access to the consumer. The sales manager plays the same role in the company. In his hands - access to the consumer. If the company does not satisfy its customers or the manager himself, he takes his customers and goes to another producer of a service or product.

The profession of a sales manager is unique. Today it is the most popular and in demand. It's a profession that anyone seems to be able to do. Many students get jobs as sales managers, because often for a specialist without experience this is almost the only chance to plunge into the world of corporate reality. On the other hand, the largest number of people who are absolutely incompetent in these same sales work in the sales position. Nothing to be done is the fate of any super-popular thing, including the described profession.

2. Who is the profession suitable for?

Despite the fact that a person with any education and experience can start working as a manager, not everyone can become truly successful salespeople. And it practically does not depend on education or previous experience. No, of course, education and knowledge in some areas can contribute successful sales, but determining, nevertheless, are the personal characteristics of a person. Which? It's a long story. If you're interested, you can go. The test analyzes the description of 15 personality factors and determines the predisposition to certain types of sales.

3. What is the job of a manager?

Here begins the most interesting. These can be professions that involve the performance of a number of functions.

  • Contact center operators.

Task description: checking the availability of goods in the database and issuing an invoice. They do not understand goods, characters, methods of persuasion - anyone can perform their task.

  • Storekeepers.

Description of the task: issuing goods from the warehouse (perhaps issuing an invoice and receiving money).

  • IT operators.

Task description: people who process requests for e-mail. They are no longer associated with customers.

  • Cashiers.

Description of the task: receiving money, and another manager (storekeeper) is engaged in the shipment of goods.

  • Accountant or operator 1C.

Description of the task: issuing documents for goods or services.

  • Trade representatives.

Task Description: Taking orders from store employees. They are no longer just managers, they are already super-managers.

  • Sales consultants

Sales managers are also called presale specialists who have in-depth knowledge of the product or the client's business and provide technical advice.

People who go by trains and subways. They sell goods, so they are also sales managers.

Baba Klava is in the sausage department and she is the sales manager.

Member network marketing also called a sales manager.

A loan officer who assesses the creditworthiness of a client is also called a sales manager.

Couriers are also often the most sales managers. They deliver goods to the customer and receive money for it.

The woman at the post office who tells retirees which way to turn the line at the post office is also a bright representative of the sales manager.

Office plankton is the most common type of sales manager. He finds clients or answers incoming calls, draws up documents and can even follow the shipment. Sometimes he is an expert and is able to help in choosing a product.

An Accounts Receivable Specialist can also be a Sales Manager.

And this is only the top layer: the profession is not subject to certification, any functions are hung on it. You must understand this clearly.

Who is a sales manager?

The sales manager profession is a profession in which a person, using their communication skills and knowledge of customer needs, closes specific cost-effective deals.

Let me explain why I give this definition.

If the courier delivered the goods and collected the money, did he use his communication skills? Unlikely: the product has been selected, the price has been determined, the person, placing an order in the online store, has already given his consent to the purchase. So the courier is not a sales manager. If a person from the marketing department has developed cool product, taking into account the needs of customers, brought to the attention of consumers all the possibilities, and people stood in line (as, for example, for an iPhone), then the marketer did not influence the sale of a particular product to a particular person or a particular organization. So he's not a sales manager either.

But if everything is so simple, why is the concept of the sales manager profession so vague? Everything is very simple: to sell something, you need to perform a number of functions, for example:

  • study demand, competitors, market prospects;
  • to produce a product or service corresponding to the market;
  • search for potential customers and offer them a product;
  • convince the client that the product is the best;
  • sign an agreement;
  • deliver goods or provide services;
  • carry out after-sales service.

Let's say we limit the functions of a sales manager to three (3, 4, 5). But if no one in the company does the rest of the functions, what does the manager have to do? That's right - perform the rest of the functions to successfully sell.

The most striking example is a private entrepreneur. He invents the product himself, produces it himself, promotes it and everything else. But the entrepreneur does not count on anyone, he understands that he is alone. However, even in large companies, it is not uncommon for a sales manager to be left alone with a client. If marketing fails, the manager has to research the market himself, monitor competitors, compare products / services. If logistics fails, delivery has to be controlled. If lawyers cannot agree with clients on the terms of the contract, he has to resolve the situation, because most of the company's employees receive a salary regardless of whether they connect this client or not. And the sales manager receives bonuses depending on the decision of a particular client.

If you decide to connect your life with a profession, you must be ready to do the work for half the company. Well, or be a real sales star and create such connections in the company so that everyone is happy to help you connect customers. Most effective way to get the necessary skills of a sales manager are that you can go through on this site.

Not a single newly-minted specialist today refuses the received profession and tells his parents that he wants to become a manager. Who is this and what is his occupation? A profession without a profession - can this interpretation be attributed to the position of a manager?

Let's try to answer all these questions in this article.

In fact, the manager of the manager is different. There are many different managers:

  • by sales;
  • for purchases;
  • Content manager;
  • SMM manager;
  • PR manager;
  • Office Manager;
  • for advertising;
  • for work with clients;
  • personnel.

And these are just the main ones. types of this profession. It is noteworthy that the activities of even a manager of the same type can differ significantly in different companies. For example, a sales manager in one company may work exclusively on the phone, call customers, offer them a product or service, and close deals.

Whereas in charge of sales manager another company may include keeping statistics, establishing relationships with clients for the purpose of further cooperation, training staff, and even maintaining the company's social networks. In other words, each manager has different ideas about what his employee should do.

However, it is possible to cite such actions that in any case are carried out by any manager, regardless of the company where he works and the type of activity.

The main functions of the manager:

  1. Orientation of the direction of the company in which it needs to move in order to achieve the main goal. It is important for the manager correctly formulate tasks and goals so that the company's personnel understand them well. Then the probability of achieving the goals set will increase significantly.
  2. Organization of the work process. The manager must analyze the activities of the company as a whole, in particular his department, his personal activities and the work of each employee in his subordination (if any). All work should be divided into classes, each of which is divided into small tasks and the most necessary for execution are selected from them. That is, a structure should be obtained, each of the tasks of which will be entrusted to a specific employee.
  3. Formation of a well-coordinated team of employees of the company. To do this, the manager finds a means of motivating each of the employees to work. He can ask the manager for an increase in salary for one of the staff or a promotion.
  4. Making contact regarding clients, their managers, colleagues and subordinates. To this end, regular communication is carried out.
  5. Evaluation and control of the company's work and its results, introduction to the course of affairs regarding this one's boss and colleagues.
  6. Continuous development. A modern manager must regularly engage in self-development, as well as the development of his colleagues.

Do I need to study to be a manager? In fact, lower-level managers may not learn at all. It is enough for them to be sociable, responsible and hardworking. Many companies train managers as they work.

But such employees rarely achieve good results and move up the career ladder. In order for a manager to succeed, he must understand management, know at least its basics, which are taught when receiving any higher education.

A successful manager can work in any company with any product or service. He can set up a cycle in any conditions management activities: plan work, organize it, motivate yourself and your team and strictly control the entire workflow.

A real manager should be a leader that all employees are ready to follow and who the head of the company will listen to.

It is equally important for a successful manager not to carry all the work on himself, but delegate tasks to other employees, be able to explain how to perform them correctly and what benefits it will bring to the company.

Thus, modern managers are key employees companies. You should not consider them the lowest link, since a real specialist manager is able to significantly increase the income of the company where he works and bring it to a higher level.

If you have received an education, but instead of working by profession you have become a manager, you should not worry about this. Work with full dedication, constantly develop, and you will definitely achieve success in your career.

There are many examples when, starting with an ordinary manager, a person became average, then senior manager, and then held the post of leader. Other people, having worked for several years as a manager in a certain company, gain experience in this area and successfully open their own business, which brings them a high income.

Once, during an interview, a candidate for a managerial position told me that a manager and a salesperson are one and the same. After that, I ask all candidates a question - who is a manager and what does he do? I discovered Pandora's box for myself, the funny thing is when those who graduated from a university with a degree in management cannot answer this question.

I have long wanted to write an article about who a manager is. How sad is that great amount people don't understand what the word means. First of all, they are to blame for the current situation. It is they who use the word manager to draw attention to the vacancy. This introduces confusion into the poorly educated heads of applicants. Let's figure out who a manager is and what he does.

What are managers

If you open a website with job offers, you will find hundreds of varieties of vacancies with the prefix - manager. It is believed that managers are most often referred to as sellers, but this is not entirely true. The fact is that the seller is one of the most common vacancies, there is very high competition for one applicant. At the same time, there are only a few qualified sellers. It is this specificity that creates a huge number various vacancies for one position. HRs simply attract more staff by pouring more candidates into the hiring funnel.

Here is a list of vacancies with the prefix manager and decoding:

  • Cleanliness manager, cleaning manager - cleaner;
  • Sales manager - salesperson;
  • A customer service manager is an administrator, although they can also call the seller and other customer service employees that way;
  • Office manager - secretary;
  • HR manager - recruiter, ;
  • tourism manager - travel agent;
  • advertising manager, PR manager, marketer

On the one hand, this is a candidate's deception - the vacancy is presented in a better light. On the other hand, it is beneficial for candidates, because it is embarrassing to tell friends that you work as a secretary. The office manager sounds much more solid. It is worth noting that calling a vacancy a manager is not the only way to hide the essence of the vacancy. There are many options to call the familiar in a new way. For example, I myself once worked as a loader, although an assistant storekeeper was written in the labor office and the vacancy was called the same way.

Who is a manager and what does he do

The word manager is borrowed from the West. From English manage is translated as to manage, management is management. From French manager - manager. From German manager - organizer. In short, a manager is a leader (manager, boss, boss, boss), that is, an employee who manages other people. The owners of large and medium-sized businesses cannot keep track of a large staff of subordinates. Therefore, they entrust the management of their business to managers.

The main task of a manager is to make decisions that increase the effectiveness of the people entrusted to him and other resources of the company. The working day of a line subordinate should be clearly defined and regulated based on the needs of the business. It is the manager who is responsible for ensuring that all employees perform their work properly. And as a result, they brought profit to the company.

Manager functions

Management is a science that studies effective methods. On the one hand, there are a lot of varieties of managerial activity, and therefore it is very difficult to formulate any uniform rules. There is only a set of managerial functions that are similar regardless of the level of the manager and the company. The main functions of a manager are: planning, organization, motivation and control. There are also functions that have a huge role, but they are mentioned much less often:

  1. Team building is key function manager. Team building refers to the ability of a manager to find people who are ready to achieve their goals with him. A leader without a team is like a captain without a ship. The manager forms the team all his life. The success of the leader is equal to the success of his team and vice versa;
  2. It is also the most important function of a manager. A manager can train and develop himself and his staff both personally and by organizing trainings. It is important to understand that without development, any team will quickly fall apart. Teaching and developing is not the same thing, learning is the assimilation of new or a deeper study of old knowledge, skills and abilities. Personnel development is teamwork manager and subordinate allowing the subordinate to increase their competencies and areas of responsibility;
  3. Staff rotation - sadly, but it is the manager who decides who will be on his team and who will not. Staff rotation is not the most pleasant function of a manager, but a necessary one;
  4. Resource support for employees. To work, staff need a variety of resources, from the office and jobs, . Provide staff the right resources this is the task of the immediate supervisor;
  5. Support for the activities of subordinates. It is also a very important function of a manager to show a subordinate that he is not alone, that his work is important, that the leader is interested in success and achievements. The leader must be not just a boss, but above all an ally and a senior comrade;
  6. Continuous improvement in the quality of work. With a properly configured management system, the quality of work will constantly increase and improve. For this, things like . Constantly analyzing the results obtained and introducing changes that allow them to change in better side, the leader is able to achieve excellence;
  7. Coordination of actions between related services. IN large companies often there is a problem of coordination of actions between departments and employees. Sometimes, due to the lack of partnerships, significant damage is caused to the business. There are always points of intersection of interests and it is important to be able to properly build communications between departments and employees. This is one of the tasks of management, since an ordinary performer will always "pull the blanket over himself."

3 types of leaders

It is customary to divide managers into 3 types, depending on the level of their management:

  1. Line managers are leaders entry level(, senior shifts, foremen, senior salespeople, administrators), those who manage the daily activities of line personnel. Such managers are engaged in operational activities, that is, they organize and control the work of the initial staff.
  2. Middle managers are those who manage the lower managers and coordinate the activities of the lower levels. The responsibility of middle managers includes medium-term planning of the life of a department, subdivision, workshop, section. The middle link is a layer between the strategists from above and the operators from below. The success of the organization depends on how effectively the strategy adopted from above is implemented.
  3. Top management (TOP management) is the level of directors and top officials of the company. This type of manager is responsible for strategic management company. From the decisions made on top level depends on the activity of the company for years.

What a Manager Should Know

To become a lower-level manager, it is enough just to be a responsible and executive employee, there are no special ones. But without knowing the basics of management, you are unlikely to achieve serious success. Or, as often happens, a young manager showed success at one job, but could not repeat it at another. This is primarily due to the fact that for the first time the manager became a leader in “his” team and in a company where he knows the work well from the inside. worked at the starting position. Put such a manager in different conditions, all he can do is use the old tools. Which is unlikely to give a positive effect again. So let's figure out what a leader should know.

Management cycle

is a cyclic sequence of management functions: planning, . Using the management cycle, you can perform any task at any level of management. You need to start your management training with immersion in the management cycle.

Setting goals and objectives for the employee

To expose subordinates to goals and objectives is. At the same time, the novice leader least of all thinks about how to set tasks correctly. Much more attention is paid to motivation and control. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you at least read what SMART goal setting is.

Leadership

The manager must be the leader in his team. is the process of influencing other people to achieve a common goal. In the West, one of the central in management. And this is not surprising, because. the leader unites people around him and leads them to his goal. The problem of leadership is that there is always a leader in the team, but the leader and leader are not always the same person. Often the team is managed by an informal leader who pursues his own goals, and these goals do not always coincide with the goals of the business.

Delegate

A novice manager is often so happy about his promotion that he tries to complete all the tasks on his own. As a rule, this lasts six months, a year, and then the employee either learns to delegate authority, or simply. - this is an inevitable stage in the development of a manager and its study should be started as early as possible. Middle and top-level leaders are those who have learned to delegate authority and have begun to think more.

Who is a manager

Manager is a derogatory term for managers, salespeople, and office workers in general. A derivative of the English manager, when the Latin "a" (hey) is pronounced like the Russian "a". The service sector is perceived by many workers and the intelligentsia as an unnecessary link - artificially formed to make money. All representatives of the service sector from the point of view of such people are loafers. Many laugh at corporate culture large firms, comparing it with a sect.

A sales manager is one of the most popular professions, because it is this specialist who, in fact, ensures the financial well-being of the company. The main task of such a manager is to sell the company's goods and services, expand the circle of customers and maintain partnerships with them. A sales specialist spends most of his working time in negotiations (telephone or personal).

Places of work

The position of a sales manager is in any company, firm or organization engaged in one or another type of trading activities. Sometimes employers immediately look for a specialist in a specific area of ​​work, and then the following positions are found in vacancies:

  • car sales manager (auto parts);
  • window sales manager
  • equipment sales manager;
  • real estate sales manager;
  • furniture sales manager
  • service sales manager, etc.

However, despite the specifics of the goods being sold, the essence of the work of a sales specialist is always the same - to sell the goods, keep the sales volume at a high level and, if possible, also increase it.

History of the profession

Sales managers have been around for almost as long as sales have existed. At all times, they were called differently: merchants, itinerant traders, barkers, clerks in shops ... But the essence of what a sales manager does does not change from the name - to sell goods and find new customers.

Responsibilities of a sales manager

The job responsibilities of a sales manager are as follows:

  • Increasing sales in your sector.
  • Search and attraction of new clients (processing of incoming applications, active search for clients, negotiations, conclusion of contracts).
  • Maintaining relationships with established clientele.
  • Keeping records of work with current clients and incoming requests.
  • Assortment consulting and technical parameters goods (services).

This is a general list of what a sales manager does. In addition, depending on the field of activity, the functions of a sales manager may also include the following items:

  • Reception of goods and maintenance of its display in the trading floors.
  • Conducting presentations and trainings on new products and promotions of the company.
  • Participation in exhibitions.

Sales manager requirements

From an applicant who wants to become a sales manager, employers require the following:

  • Higher education (sometimes - incomplete higher education).
  • Citizenship of the Russian Federation (not always, but in most cases).
  • Knowledge of PC, office programs and 1C, ability to work with electronic catalogs.
  • Active sales skills

Additional requirements put forward by employers:

  • The presence of a driver's license category B (sometimes also the presence of a personal car).
  • Experience in sales.
  • Skills in preparing basic commercial documents (contracts, invoices, invoices, invoices, etc.)

Some employers specifically stipulate that in addition to the necessary skills, a sales manager must also have a pleasant appearance, but this is more the exception than the rule.

sales manager resume sample

How to become a sales manager

The skills of a sales manager can be mastered by people with any education. A sales manager needs, first of all, communication skills and an understanding of sales processes. The principles of sales can be understood in just a couple of days. It will take some more time to overcome the first fears (call a stranger, hold a meeting, answer objections and other things).

The easiest way to become a professional salesperson is to get a job and receive on-the-job training. This is common in the labor market.

Sales manager salary

How much a sales manager receives depends on the specifics of the company's activities, on the specifics of the work of the manager himself, on the region of residence and, above all, on the implementation of the sales plan. Wage sales manager ranges from 12,000 - 250,000 rubles, and the average salary of a sales manager is about 40,000 rubles. I would like to repeat and say that earnings significantly depend on sales skills and the result achieved.