sales VP

I was reviewing a sales leadership evaluation with my client, a CEO, who was a bit confused over how this was different from a sales management evaluation.  He wondered, “Aren’t sales managers and sales leaders the same?”

He has a sales force that was typical of a mid-size business with a Sales VP (the sales leader), 2 sales managers, and about 15 salespeople between them.  In my experience, there is a boatload of confusion over the differences between Sales Managers, Sales Directors, Sales VP’s, Regional Sales Managers, National Sales Managers, Senior Sales VP’s, Worldwide Sales VP’s, Sales Operations VP’s, Sales Enablement VP’s and Chief Revenue Officers.

Let’s attempt to explain some of the important differences between Sales Managers and the other Sales Leadership roles.