Near the end of a quarter, a sales manager is usually sitting with a pipeline report and asking uncomfortable questions: which of these deals has a confirmed budget, which has gone quiet, and who on the team needs help this week? An account executive is on the other side of that conversation, running discovery calls, demos and negotiations on deals in their own name. Both carry a revenue number, but only the manager is measured through other people. An individual-contributor AE has no direct reports, and a job ad that blurs this attracts the wrong applicants for either job.
The template that follows is written for a sales manager and converts to an AE role in a minute. Then you will find levels, screening checks, ad mistakes and guidance on hiring terms.
Sales manager job description template
Decide first whether this person will have direct reports. If yes, title the post Sales Manager and keep everything. If no, title it Account Executive, delete the bullets tagged [Manager], and drop the word “manager” from the ad, because a closer who is called a manager without a team usually feels misled in the first week.
About the role
[Company] sells [product or service] to [buyer type] in [territory]. We need a Sales Manager to own a [monthly / quarterly] revenue target and lead a team of [number] sales executives. Most deals are [inside / field / mixed], typically close through [buyer roles], and are tracked in [Salesforce / HubSpot CRM / Zoho CRM / LeadSquared]. You will report to [Head of Sales / Founder] from [city].
Responsibilities
- Own the revenue target for [territory, segment or product line].
- Run discovery, demos, proposals and negotiation through to closure on [named or larger] deals.
- Build and maintain a qualified pipeline, updating stage, value and close date in the CRM.
- Work with marketing and business development on which leads deserve follow-up and how they are passed over.
- [Manager] Allocate territories and accounts across the team, and set individual targets.
- [Manager] Coach executives through call reviews, joint visits and weekly one-to-ones.
- [Manager] Run pipeline reviews and submit a forecast leadership can plan around.
- [Manager] Help hire and onboard new sales team members.
- Feed buyer objections and competitor information back to product and leadership.
Requirements
- [X] years in B2B or [your sector] sales, with a record of carrying a personal target.
- Evidence of achievement against target, including deal sizes and sales cycle length.
- Skill in consultative selling, covering discovery, objection handling and negotiation.
- Disciplined CRM use, with a pipeline that matches what is really happening.
- [Manager] [X] years leading sales executives, with examples of people you developed.
- [Manager] Experience in sales forecasting and territory planning.
- Willingness to travel [frequency] within [region].
Nice to have
- An existing understanding of buyers in [your sector or region].
- Experience with GeM and tender bids, if you sell to public sector buyers.
- Familiarity with LinkedIn Sales Navigator for account research.
What we offer
- [Fixed pay], and a [commission or incentive plan] explained in writing.
- [Travel allowance and reimbursement terms].
- [Benefits and leave].
How the sales manager role changes by level
Account executive
The AE is an individual contributor. They own opportunities from first qualified conversation to signature, either picking up meetings booked by an SDR or business development executive, or sourcing some themselves. Judge them on personal achievement and deal handling. Do not ask for team management experience here, because it filters out strong closers.
Senior account executive
A senior AE handles larger or more complex deals with several stakeholders, plus longer buying cycles. They may mentor newer colleagues informally, yet they still have no reports and remain measured on personal numbers. The ad should ask for examples of multi-threaded deals, where the candidate won over finance and users as well as the sponsor.
Sales manager
Now the job shifts to getting results through a team. Many first-time managers still sell a portion of the target themselves, a so-called player-coach arrangement, so state the split. Requirements should cover coaching, forecasting and territory design.
Regional sales manager or head of sales
This person manages managers or a whole geography. Hiring plans, incentive design and working with finance on the annual number become central, and personal selling is limited to strategic accounts. Ask for evidence of building a team, since inheriting one proves less.
Sales skills that matter most, and how to check them
- Target history. Ask for their target and achievement across recent periods, how territories were assigned, and how they ranked. Follow up on one lost quarter, because anybody can describe a good one.
- Discovery. Run a short role play where you act as a buyer. Strong candidates ask about current process, cost of the problem and who decides, before presenting a solution.
- Negotiation. Tell them a procurement contact has demanded a large discount at the last minute. Listen for trading something in exchange and for confirming what is driving the request, rather than simply escalating.
- Pipeline honesty. Show a sample pipeline with stale deals and ask which ones they would remove. Ask what evidence moves a deal to the commit category in a forecast.
- Coaching, for managers only. Play a short call recording, or describe one, and ask for the feedback they would give the executive. A good manager picks one behaviour to change and explains how they would follow up.
When references are possible, ask former managers how accurate the candidate’s forecasts were. A big personal number and poor team results can sit in the same CV, so check which one you are hiring.
Common sales manager job description mistakes
- Calling an individual contributor a manager. Inflated titles are common in Indian sales hiring, and they muddy your applicant pool. Fix: use Account Executive or a named seniority when nobody reports to the role.
- Requiring a large personal network. Asking people to bring contacts is a weak substitute for describing the job. Fix: describe your buyers and ask for experience selling to them.
- Hiding the incentive plan. Good salespeople read commission terms before anything else. Fix: explain how incentives work and when they pay out, even if exact figures come at interview.
- Mixing new business with account management. Hunting for logos and growing existing customers need different temperaments. Fix: state the split, and consider a key account manager where renewals dominate.
- Ignoring lead sources. Closing inbound leads is a very different job from building a pipeline from nothing. Fix: say how much pipeline marketing and SDRs supply.
Contract, contract-to-hire or permanent: which suits a sales manager
Contract sales roles are less common, because long sales cycles rarely fit a short engagement and relationships need an owner. They suit a defined push such as entering a new city, launching a product line or covering a manager’s leave.
Contract-to-hire is useful if you are testing a new territory or trying a first dedicated seller. Agree in advance what you will judge during the trial, such as pipeline quality and CRM habits, since closed revenue may arrive later than the trial ends.
Permanent hiring is the normal choice for managers who will build a team and for AEs on a long-term patch. Zilo AI can hire sales managers in India, along with account executives, on contract, contract-to-hire or permanent terms, screening on targets carried, deal sizes, CRM habits and market knowledge. For related hires across other functions, see our non-IT recruitment page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a sales manager and an account executive?
An account executive closes deals personally and is measured on their own number. A sales manager is accountable for a team’s number, adding coaching, forecasting and territory planning, and may or may not sell as well.
What should a sales manager job description include?
Include the target’s scope, team size, product and buyer type, inside or field split, CRM, incentive structure and travel. Applicants should be able to tell quickly how their week would look.
How does a sales manager differ from a business development executive?
A business development executive opens doors and qualifies interest. The AE or sales manager takes the opportunity through negotiation and closure, and the manager also leads the people doing that work.
Should a sales manager still sell?
In small teams, usually yes. As a team grows, personal selling competes with coaching, so reduce the personal target or remove it, and write that split into the job description.
If you would rather see screened closers and team leaders than sort through applications, speak to our team. Share your target, territory and buyer, and Zilo AI will begin the search.