Sales development managers lead sales teams to implement strategies and increase revenue. A sales development manager’s salary ranges from $71,500 to $99,750, with an average of $79,304, and can change accordingly to the location, years of experience, and industry.
Sales development managers, also referred to as sales leaders, are valuable employees across various industries. There are about 37,000 vacancies for sales managers yearly, and that number should rise by seven percent in the next decade.
Roles of a Sales Development Manager
A sales development manager performs different business roles to boost sales and revenue. B2B sales development managers interface with decision-makers in their industry, while those in B2C focus on customers.
Their roles are to:
- Conduct research to identify leads
Sales managers use data and other prospecting tools to find potential clients. They also create custom-made scripts for SDRs to set appointments with those leads.
- Lead the hiring, onboarding, and training of SDRs
Sales managers work with the human resources department to hire SDRs for your company. They provide the requirements for the role, interview shortlisted candidates, and have veto power over hires.
They are also responsible for the onboarding and ongoing training of new and old sales reps to ensure sales strategies’ implementation.
- Resolve customer complaints
Sales development managers must be capable of providing solutions to potential clients’ issues to improve customer experience.
- Create and implement sales development strategies
Sales managers are master strategists. Your sales development manager should develop effective strategies to optimize SDR performance and boost revenue.
- Qualify leads
Lead qualification involves grouping prospects according to their level of interest in your service. This process informs which leads SDRs can reach to schedule appointments. Sales managers’ ability to qualify leads impacts their team’s productivity and increases conversion rates.
- Prepare reports on sales performance
Sales development managers prepare a periodic summary of sales activities for executive performance reviews. These reports are pivotal in measuring profit, revenue, and business growth.
- Collaborate with other managers
As completing a sale is a collective effort, sales managers must collaborate with other departments to achieve their goals. They usually team up with marketing, customer support, operations, and finance departments to adequately implement sales objectives.
Are Sales Development Managers Also Account Executives?
Sales development managers are often confused with account executives. They both work hand-in-hand to ensure sales fulfillment, but their roles differ. The differences between sales managers and account executives are:
| Features | Sales Development Manager | Account Executive |
| Roles | Supervise SDRs to generate and contact leads | Meet with leads and negotiate sales terms |
| Contacts | New prospects | Leads |
| Key Performance Indicator | No. of qualified appointments scheduled | No. of sales closed |
Why Do Sales Development Managers’ Salaries Vary?
According to Glassdoor, sales development managers can receive up to $333,000 per annum for their services. The total pay consists of a base salary and additional compensations. The factors affecting sales managers’ salaries are:
- Experience
- Education & certifications
- Location
Experience
Sales development managers with more years of experience will expect a higher salary. Valuable job history for hiring managers includes previous roles as sales development representatives, sales associates, or sales managers. SDMs often emphasize their experience when negotiating salaries.
Research shows that experience can impact sales development managers’ salaries, as illustrated below:
| Years of Experience | Average SDM salary |
| <1 year | $43,861 |
| 1-4 years | $56,965 |
| 5-9 years | $76,954 |
| 10-19 years | $98,448 |
| 20+ years | $123,215 |
Education & certifications
Highly educated SDMs are likely to earn more. Top sales managers have a bachelor’s degree in business, communications, marketing, or related fields. A master’s degree in business administration (MBA) can also increase value and payment.
Sales managers with additional certifications like the Certified Sales Professional® also get better chances to negotiate higher salaries.
Location
The cost of living in a location can affect a sales development manager’s salary. Those that work in larger metropolitan areas expect to earn more.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that sales managers in San Francisco, New York, and Washington DC tend to earn more salaries than those in other cities within the US.
Additional Compensations For Sales Development Managers
Sales managers can get extra payments in addition to their salaries. These compensations vary from company to company and motivate sales managers to improve their outputs. They are part of the benefits package and can come up during salary negotiations.
The most common compensations for sales development managers are
- Health insurance
- Commissions
- Paid time off
- Retirement funds
- Bonuses
Health insurance
United States labor law mandates health insurance for full-time employees in companies with over 50 staff and considers it optional for those with less. Health insurance increases employees’ confidence, and it is a huge factor in attracting and retaining them at your company.
Commissions
Sales development managers require extra compensation as a percentage of their revenue. You can pay commissions monthly, quarterly, or yearly, depending on your company’s capacity. Incentives like this motivate sales managers to ramp up SDRs results and boost revenue generation.
You can decide to pay commissions as part of your SDM’s bonuses or separately.
Paid time off (PTO)
Sales managers receive compensation for ‘off days’ like vacations, sick leave, or family-related incidences. PTO is usually non-negotiable for sales development managers due to the technical demands of the job.
Retirement funds
Planning for retirement is vital for SDMs. A sales manager with an existing retirement plan may request an annual payment into the account. Retirement funds, health insurance, and PTO are standard compensation added to the average sales manager’s salary.
Bonuses
There are different types of bonuses for SDMs, and they are a large part of their income. You can decide which bonuses to pay, but they must be appealing enough to attract top talent to your company.
Common bonuses for sales managers include:
| Bonus | Description |
| Annual bonus | Paid yearly based on performance |
| Sign-on bonus | Paid when sales managers are hired |
| Spot or discretionary bonus | Paid when sales managers achieve milestone |
| Retention bonus | Paid to keep sales managers from leaving your company |
| Profit-sharing bonus | Paid from your business’ profit |
Best Practices For Increasing Sales Development Manager Salary
Sales managers’ salaries must reflect the value they bring to your company. Business executives can recommend top employees for increased compensation to improve staff retention and boost productivity.
Sales development managers can earn more by:
- Developing in-demand skills
- Getting certifications
- Producing consistent results
Developing in-demand skills
Certain skills are the key to a sales development manager’s success. These skills set them apart from others and can help increase their salaries.
- Lead generation: A sales development manager must know the strategies to maintain a continuous supply of leads in the sales pipeline.. The ability to instruct SDRs to execute lead generation strategies is a plus.
- Customer relationship management (CRM): CRM is critical to generating new leads, and expert sales managers have developed skills for this process. They are adept at recent trends, integrations, and best practices for maximizing sales with CRM. Sales managers can leverage their CRM expertise when asking for a raise.
- Sales funnel management: Your sales manager plays a key role in the quality and depth of your funnel. An SDM with solid pipeline knowledge and expert forecasting skills has an edge when asking for a raise.
- Territory management: Sales managers skilled at leading multiple SDR teams in different sales territories can easily request higher salaries.
Getting certifications
An extra certification or degree boosts a sales manager’s salary. This symbolizes a commitment to personal growth and brings additional knowledge to your company.
Producing consistent results
Your sales managers’ performance on periodic evaluations can determine their pay. A sales manager with consistent and remarkable results on sales quota, targets, and generated revenue can request a higher compensation.
Outsourcing Your Sales Management
Outsourced sales management involves the engagement of a third party to coordinate, direct and oversee your sales team. You may decide to outsource the entire sales process or just an aspect of it.
Sales management outsourcing is popular in B2B and B2C industries. The most common reasons for outsourced sales management are to reduce costs, enhance focus, and accelerate sales. If your company cannot bear the cost of hiring a full-time sales manager, outsourced sales management is a viable solution.
Outsourcing your sales management grants you access to top sales experts at a lower cost. Your sales team will be run by experienced professionals with best practices to ramp up your sales process quickly.
With an outsourced sales development manager, your SDRs can get the mentorship to become in-house sales managers in the near future.
If outsourcing suits your business, the next step is finding an ideal company for this process. There are a few crucial things to consider when looking for a company to hire:
- Do they have a track record?
The outsourcing company you choose must have a track record with case studies and testimonials backing their proficiency in sales development management.
- How do they train their salespeople?
You must understand their training methods and how they recruit staff for outsourced sales processes. Will you have exclusive salespeople for your company during your contract? Or will they be working for multiple companies?
- What tools do they use?
You should know the tools the outsourcing company uses for CRM, outreach tools, database management, and marketing suppoty.
- How safe is your data?
Outsourcing sales management gives the company access to valuable lead data. The sales management provider must have measures that prevent data leakage and privacy violations.
You can request the outsourcing company to sign non-disclosure agreements to secure information made available to them during your contract.
- How do they measure success?
An effective sales management outsourcing company should have performance metrics. The ideal process is to use analytics to prepare timely reports on your sales and revenue, applying key performance indicators.
Bottom Line
Sales development managers can be expensive, but they are necessary to provide training for your SDRs. Investing in a great sales manager will produce remarkable outcomes for your business: a steady supply of hot leads and higher conversion rates.
