A channel sales manager leads a team of sales and marketing employees to market products through a specific channel. They negotiate contracts, set revenue targets, and oversee operations. Employers prefer managers with previous sales experience and academic credentials.
A channel sales manager oversees a company’s efforts to market its products or services through a specific channel, such as an online portal or through a chain of retail stores. Managers preside over a team of sales and marketing employees and are responsible for assigning individual goals and ensuring that annual revenue targets are met. Typically, most employers require a channel sales manager to have previous industry-related experience and certain academic credentials.
Generally, companies require sales managers to have successfully graduated from high school, and many employers prefer to fill managerial positions with graduates. Those involved in sales supervision roles generally have completed degree programs in business administration, marketing, or management. An individual overseeing a high-revenue sales channel may also be required to have completed a graduate degree program in sales management or a related topic.
In many cases, a company’s board of directors sets the company’s annual sales and revenue targets. The company-wide goals are divided among the channel managers, and each of these individuals divides them even further among the sales team members. Having assigned goals, the channel sales manager should sit down with the sales team, design and implement a sales action plan. Over time, the manager should establish regular contact with the sales people to track their progress toward the goal. If necessary, the manager can provide one-on-one coaching for people who are struggling to meet their quotas, and in some cases, the manager can even reassign revenue goals if some people exceed personal goals sooner than anticipated.
A channel sales manager typically deals with one type of outlet or channel, such as big box stores, Internet retailers, or wholesale companies. The manager must negotiate contracts with these external suppliers and decide on product prices so that the company itself and its business partners can profit from sales. In some cases, managers make strategic decisions about signing exclusivity agreements with certain companies in order to avoid problems related to conflicts of interest. At other times, a channel sales manager may choose to market the company’s products through several competing vendors, even if this means that each of these vendors may sell products and services from other manufacturers or service providers.
Due to the nature of the job, most employers prefer to hire managers with previous sales experience, and in many cases, the salespeople who achieve the best results are able to transition into these supervisory roles. In addition, managers must have good interpersonal and administrative skills to successfully train employees and negotiate deals with customers. Many managers need to oversee operations over a wide area, where managers must be willing to travel frequently, and in some cases these individuals may need second language skills.
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