How to become a sales accounts and business development manager
Official title: Sales accounts and business development managers
Also called: Manager, Bid manager, Area manager, Team manager, Brand manager, Field manager, Label manager, Sales manager, Export manager, Import manager, Rights manager, Account manager
Sales accounts and business development managers plan, organise and undertake market research to meet the requirements of an organisation’s marketing and sales policies.
Main tasks
- Liaises with other senior staff to determine the range of goods or services to be sold, contributes to the development of sales strategies and setting of sales targets
- Discusses employer’s or client’s requirements, carries out surveys and analyses customers’ reactions to product, packaging, price, etc.
- Compiles and analyses sales figures, prepares proposals for marketing campaigns and promotional activities and undertakes market research
- Handles customer accounts
- Recruits and trains junior sales staff
- Produces reports and recommendations concerning marketing and sales strategies for senior management
- Keeps up to date with products and competitors
How to become one
Entrants to the professional qualifications of the Chartered Institute of Marketing require GCSEs/S grades, A levels/H grades, a BTEC/SQA award, a degree or equivalent qualification and/or relevant experience. Qualifications in sales and from other relevant professional bodies are available.
Ways in
- University: Arts & Humanities degrees, Offered by 27 universities in the UK
- University: Business & Commerce degrees, Offered by 27 universities in the UK
Pay · Outlook
- Median full-time pay: £57,625 a year The middle half earn £43,049 to £79,598.
- About 269,200 people work in this job now, and about 281,700 are projected by 2035. (+4.6%)
Related jobs
- Buyers and procurement officers
- Business sales executives
- Merchandisers
- Advertising and marketing associate professionals
- Estate agents and auctioneers
- Events managers and organisers
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Questions people ask
How do I become a sales accounts and business development manager?
Entrants to the professional qualifications of the Chartered Institute of Marketing require GCSEs/S grades, A levels/H grades, a BTEC/SQA award, a degree or equivalent qualification and/or relevant experience. Qualifications in sales and from other relevant professional bodies are available.
How much does a sales accounts and business development manager earn in the UK?
Median full-time pay is £57,625 a year (Office for National Statistics). The middle half earn £43,049 to £79,598.
Is a sales accounts and business development manager a growing career in the UK?
Yes. Employment is projected to grow 5% by 2035, from about 269,200 to about 281,700 people (Department for Education).
Do you need a degree to become a sales accounts and business development manager?
Not always. 54% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Ways in include: Arts & Humanities degrees; Business & Commerce degrees.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Updated 2026-10-03
Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.