Sales Managers

Low Risk
33%

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Vote Comments (28)
AUTOMATION RISK
CALCULATED
29%
(Low Risk)
POLLING
37%
(Low Risk, Based on 600 votes)
Average: 33%
LABOR DEMAND
GROWTH
5.9%
by year 2033
WAGES
$135,160
or $64.98 per hour
Volume
575,880
as of 2023
SUMMARY
What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
7.9/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

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Calculated automation risk

29% (Low Risk)

Low Risk (21-40%): Jobs in this level have a limited risk of automation, as they demand a mix of technical and human-centric skills.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Some very important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Persuasion

Some quite important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Social Perceptiveness

  • Negotiation

  • Originality

User poll

37% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 29% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Sales Managers will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

The following graph is shown where there are enough votes to produce meaningful data. It displays user poll results over time, providing a clear indication of sentiment trends.

Sentiment over time (quarterly)

Sentiment over time (yearly)

Growth

Fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Sales Managers' job openings is expected to rise 5.9% by 2033

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Wages

Very high paid relative to other professions

In 2023, the median annual wage for 'Sales Managers' was $135,160, or $65 per hour

'Sales Managers' were paid 181.2% higher than the national median wage, which stood at $48,060

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2023 there were 575,880 people employed as 'Sales Managers' within the United States.

This represents around 0.38% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 263 people are employed as 'Sales Managers'.

Job description

Plan, direct, or coordinate the actual distribution or movement of a product or service to the customer. Coordinate sales distribution by establishing sales territories, quotas, and goals and establish training programs for sales representatives. Analyze sales statistics gathered by staff to determine sales potential and inventory requirements and monitor the preferences of customers.

SOC Code: 11-2022.00

Comments (28)

Leave a comment
Terry (Low)
08 Jan 2026 02:57
Soft skills will still be required and hard to automate - persuasion, negotiation, personal touch etc.
JORGE ALEXANDRE FERREIRA (Low)
28 Mar 2025 00:50
Interaction and persuasion
katie john (Low)
28 Jan 2025 16:52
soft skills and empathy. coaching to do better
Sam A (Moderate)
25 May 2023 11:27
Sales Management is about monitoring and coaching the implementation of sales strategies. AI can be with the sales people everywhere they go.
Sales Man (Moderate)
08 May 2023 21:51
Sales will survive…..bottom of the A.I. food chain
alice (Highly likely)
01 May 2023 01:20
With AI algorithm human behavior becomes predictable. Furthermore, people can do their own research,
Federico Suarez (Low)
24 Apr 2023 07:40
When selling, human skills like negotiating are neccesarry.
Dishant Saxena (No chance)
14 Apr 2023 21:40
Sales is a passion driven job. It needs to be fulfilled by motivation and enthusiasm otherwise sales of a product or service will definitely go down. Sales cannot be dependent on advertising or marketing only.
Dani (Highly likely)
09 Apr 2023 15:51
I think it is very likely that within the next 10 years we will reach an AGI (artificial general intelligence). Therefore, if it doesn't scape our control and kill us all (we dont really know how AIs work), I am sure it will replace the sales jobs without any problem (assuming the amount of energy to run the AGI is acceptable)
Walid (Highly likely)
21 Jan 2023 14:58
This, of course, will vary from both the industry and their job tasks. If you are a sales manager from a small firm, and responsible for training salespeople in telemarketing, then you are probably going to be out of a job, unless you are qualified to get a job somewhere else.

This will require you to have a unique set of skills, and a high level of education, that qualifies you for positions where automation will not be a threat to you.
Emma
20 Jan 2023 00:45
I think it's inevitable that the role of Sales Manager will disappear, as there will likely be no one to manage!

The role of the salesperson will be replaced by marketplaces over time, particularly as the demographic of the buyer/budget holder moves towards millennials. These individuals do not need or want human interaction, as they can research what they need to know and buy what they want without engaging with people.
Mike (Low)
15 Nov 2022 03:44
Sales is a game of emotions. AI or automation can't send a warm feeling which generates safety and trust.
Andrew (Low)
07 Sep 2022 21:44
Never rule anything out completely. There will always be a need for oversight and intrapersonal relationships on some level when completing a project.
Ben Lincoln (Low)
27 May 2021 21:16
Leaders will never be replaced by robots
Vera
28 Dec 2020 16:29
I am a sales manager and I don't think that a computer could do this job better than me.
Sales Manager (Highly likely)
26 Dec 2020 11:10
The role is basically of relationship management and is relevant only if there is a human with discretionary power on the purchasing side...with increasing transparency and control over purchase, more of this activity will become data driven and programmatic. Sales managers roles will be reduced and redefined to key account management.
Vincent Fortune (Uncertain)
11 Sep 2020 14:42
I feel like it could go either way because technology is increasing each and everyday but being a sales manager requires traits such as leadership, passion, motivation, etc. so it can go both ways.
Jaro Tomik
28 Jul 2020 11:51
As a Sales Manager, I can see how certain parts of the job (e.g. paperwork or back office tasks) can be and to a degree are automated - e.g. BI, pipeline, CRM information recording, sales prediction, parts of procurement processes, streamlining contract creation, customer access to trials and demos, maybe even sales strategy to a degree...I see the job being primarily about creating, enabling and nurturing human to human and organisation to organisation connections and relationships that lead to challenge resolution via win-win situations, and therefore very difficult to automate. However, for certain sectors where Sales Managers' products are heavily productised, not too complex or in a need of heavy customisation, customers may opt to purchase products via online orders. Therefore, there may not be that much need for coordination of resources or sales distribution, leading to less of these (and other non-consultative sales) jobs available.
Eramir Fernandes Jr. (Low)
15 Feb 2020 18:50
Human Relationship is Key to this job.
Waldemar (Low)
22 Jan 2020 14:34
A lot of tasks in this job are human related and I really doubt any buyer could be satisfied by a an artificial intelligence on this position.
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