Sales Managers
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.
637,080 people do this job in the US. $148,270 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 45%
- 49%
- 5%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 30%. Today's estimate: 35%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 17 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct and coordinate activities involving sales of manufactured products, services, commodities, real estate, or other subjects of sale.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 14% | 1.7 h50 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 14% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | 95%Half by now | |
| Monitor customer preferences to determine focus of sales efforts.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 11% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | 66%Half by now | |
| Confer with potential customers regarding equipment needs, and advise customers on types of equipment to purchase.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 11% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service.Done more than weekly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 11% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | 95%Half by now | |
| Plan and direct staffing, training, and performance evaluations to develop and control sales and service programs.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 10% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Review operational records and reports to project sales and determine profitability.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 7% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 46%Half by Oct 2026 | |
| Direct clerical staff to keep records of export correspondence, bid requests, and credit collections, and to maintain current information on tariffs, licenses, and restrictions.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Direct, coordinate, and review sales and service accounting and record-keeping, as well as receiving and shipping.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Visit franchised dealers to stimulate interest in establishment or expansion of leasing programs.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Represent company at trade association meetings to promote products.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Direct foreign sales and service outlets of an organization.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 2% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Marketing Managers4% now, 51% by 2028
- Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel69% now, 88% by 2028
- Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists8% now, 94% by 2028
- Advertising and Promotions Managers17% now, 82% by 2028
- Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products39% now, 65% by 2028
- Purchasing Managers17% now, 76% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
- Automobile Dealers38,800 people
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services37,790 people
- Management of Companies and Enterprises37,750 people
- Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods (4232, 4233, 4235, 4236, 4237, and 4239 only)28,580 people
- Professional and Commercial Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers23,360 people
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).