General Manager Sales Job Description and KRAs

A General Manager of Sales owns the sales profit and loss for a business unit or a large geography, setting direction and delivering the revenue and margin numbers. They build the strategy, lead senior managers, manage key relationships and answer for results to the top leadership. A strong GM Sales grows revenue and profitability, builds a durable sales organization and reads the market ahead of competitors. The role reports to the Vice President, Director of Sales or business head and leads DGMs, zonal and national managers.

Detail	For this role
Department	Sales and Business Development
Level	Senior management
Reports to	Vice President Sales
Direct reports	DGM Sales, Zonal Sales Manager, National Sales Manager
Experience	15+ years in sales with several years owning a business number

General Manager Sales job description template

Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.

Job title: General Manager Sales

Department: Sales and Business Development

Reports to: Vice President Sales

Location: [City], [office, branch or site]

About the role

Key responsibilities

Own the sales revenue and margin target for the business unit or geography.
Set the sales strategy across products, channels and segments for the year.
Lead senior managers and hold them accountable for their numbers and teams.
Manage pricing, discounting and profitability to protect the bottom line.
Build and maintain key customer and channel partner relationships personally.
Own the business forecast and the plan to close any gap to target.
Approve budgets, schemes and large commercial decisions within authority.
Work with marketing, product, finance and supply to deliver the plan.
Build the sales organization structure, talent and succession for growth.
Report business performance, risks and opportunities to top leadership.

Requirements

Graduate in business, commerce or engineering
MBA in sales, marketing or general management is common
Strong record of owning a sales P and L
15+ years in sales with several years owning a business number

KRAs and KPIs for a General Manager Sales

Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.

Key result area	How to measure it
Revenue and margin	Business unit meets its revenue and margin targets for the year
Profitability	Discount and pricing discipline keeps margin within the plan
Growth	Year on year growth meets or beats the agreed target
Forecast reliability	Business forecast within the agreed variance of actuals
Organization health	Team attrition kept low with key roles filled and succession ready
Market position	Market share or coverage improved against the plan

Skills and tools

Sales P and L ownershipStrategy and planningSenior team leadershipPricing and margin managementKey relationship managementForecastingCommercial judgementNegotiationOrganization building

Tools used day to day: CRM platform, Business intelligence dashboards, MS Excel, ERP sales reports, Forecasting tools.

Reporting line and career path

Moves up from: DGM Sales, AVP Sales, National Sales Manager
Next roles: Vice President Sales, Sales Director, Business Head

Interview questions for a General Manager Sales

How do you set a sales strategy for a business unit for the year?
How do you protect margin while still growing revenue?
How do you build a forecast and a plan to close a gap to target?
How do you decide the sales organization structure for growth?
How do you read a market shift before it hits your numbers?
Tell me about a business you grew and how you did it.

Managing a General Manager Sales in ZeniaHR

AttendanceGeneral shift with significant travel to markets, customers and branches, so use mobile app punch with a location check for visits and on duty requests for travel. Office days record a web punch on the approved office network.LeavePlan leave around the annual and quarterly close, and delegate approvals to a senior manager before going away. Leave goes to the reporting manager and then HR, and the leave calendar helps keep leadership cover across the business.Performance and KRAsSet the KRAs above as goals typed as KPI or OKR, review revenue, margin and forecast monthly, and hold the formal business review each quarter, with a full annual review on the business result and organization health.

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Frequently asked questions

What does a general manager of sales do?

A General Manager of Sales owns the sales profit and loss for a business unit or large geography. They set the strategy, lead senior managers, manage pricing and margin, and build key customer relationships. They own the forecast, approve major commercial decisions and build the sales organization, answering for revenue and profitability to top leadership.

What is the difference between a general manager and a VP of sales?

A General Manager of Sales owns a business unit or geography's sales profit and loss and runs it end to end. A Vice President of Sales usually owns the whole sales function and strategy across the company. Depending on company size, the GM may report to the VP, and the VP role carries wider, company level authority.

What qualifications do you need to become a GM of sales?

A General Manager of Sales typically has fifteen or more years of sales experience, including several years owning a revenue and margin number and leading senior managers. An MBA is common, especially in general management. Above all, employers want a proven track record of growing a business profitably and building strong sales teams.