National Sales Manager Job Description Templates for Growing Companies
6 templates for the company hiring one person to own the whole country: general B2B, consumer products, industrial, independent rep network, player-coach, and services. Download as DOCX.
The first national sales manager job description I ever wrote was really a confession. Our founder had been running sales personally, and putting the role on paper meant admitting how much of the pricing logic, the account history, and the forecast lived in one person's head and nowhere else.
That is the situation most companies are in when they search for this title. You are not replacing a departing national sales manager. You are creating the job for the first time, usually because coverage has outgrown the founder or because a regional patchwork has stopped adding up to a plan. The generic postings online assume an org chart you do not have.
At FirstHR we build hiring templates for companies without a dedicated HR person. The six below cover a general B2B team, consumer products and retail, industrial distribution, an independent rep network, a player-coach first hire, and a services business, each with the compensation and classification notes the generic versions skip.
TL;DR
A national sales manager owns revenue for the entire country: the territory map, quota allocation, channel structure, and national pricing, usually while still carrying the largest accounts. Sales managers earned a median of $148,270 nationally (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Most are exempt under the executive exemption, but a first hire with fewer than two direct reports often is not. Six templates below, downloadable as DOCX.
What a National Sales Manager Actually Owns
A national sales manager owns the country, not a patch of it. That means owning the territory map itself, how quota is allocated across it, which channels cover which customers, and what the national price and discount structure looks like. A regional manager executes inside those decisions; a national manager makes them.
The distinction gets lost because the titles inflate at small companies. A three-person sales team in two states does not need a national anything, and calling the role national when the reality is one region sets an expectation the job cannot meet. Use the ladder below to place the job honestly before you write it.
Territory or area sales manager
One patch, a handful of reps
Owns a defined geography and usually carries a quota inside it. Reports to a regional or national leader. The scope is a map, not a strategy, and the number is a slice of someone else's.
Regional sales manager
A cluster of territories
Runs several territories and the reps inside them. Sets tactics, not the national plan. At a small company you may never create this layer, jumping straight from reps to a national manager.
National sales manager
The whole country, one number
Owns US revenue, the territory map itself, quota setting, channel structure, and national pricing. Usually still hands-on with the largest accounts. This is the role these templates describe.
VP of sales or sales director
Function, not just revenue
Owns the sales function as a whole: headcount planning, compensation design, systems, and a seat in company strategy. At a small company the national sales manager often grows into this.
Name the Channel Before You Name the Title
The single most useful line in a national sales manager posting is the channel model, and it is the line most often missing. Selling through independent rep agencies is a fundamentally different job from managing a direct field team, and both are different from selling to retail buyers through a broker network. Candidates self-select on this more than on industry. State it in the first two sentences of the posting: direct reps, distributors, brokers, independent rep agencies, or a named mix.
What Belongs in the Posting
A national sales manager posting has to do four jobs: state the number, describe the team and channel, make the compensation modellable, and protect you legally. Most small company postings do the first vaguely and skip the rest, which is why they attract account executives rather than sales leaders.
The parts a strong candidate checks first
The number: national revenue target, stated in dollars
Team size and structure reporting to the role
Channel model: direct, distribution, brokers, reps, or a mix
Who the role reports to, by title
The parts that decide whether they apply
Base salary and on-target earnings, both stated
What variable pay is measured on
Pricing and discount authority as a percentage
Travel expectation as nights per month, not a vague percentage
The parts that protect you
FLSA classification stated on the posting
Essential functions, including the travel requirement
Equal opportunity statement
A note that the written commission plan governs, not the posting
The parts that close the hire
Why the role exists now: growth, handoff, or a coverage gap
What is already built and what they must build
Decision speed and who signs the offer
A named person to apply to and a real deadline
The most common omission is discount authority. A candidate who has run a national number wants to know whether they can approve a 12 percent concession to save a distributor relationship or whether every exception routes to the founder. Silence there reads as a company that has not decided. Our guide to writing a job description covers the general structure, and the hiring templates library has the rest of the sales roles you will need around this one.
6 National Sales Manager Job Description Templates to Download
Download all six as one file or copy them individually. Each follows the same structure: company overview, position summary, key responsibilities, territory and travel, required qualifications, compensation structure, a classification and compliance note, an equal opportunity statement, and how to apply. The bracketed fields are the only parts you change.
Download All 6 National Sales Manager Job Description Templates
General B2B, consumer products, industrial, independent rep network, player-coach, and services. All in one download.
National Sales Manager (B2B)
The general version
Direct field team, national number, strategic accounts held personally, forecast cadence, and pricing authority stated as a percentage.
Consumer Products and Retail
Buyers, brokers, trade spend
Category reviews, banner distribution targets, broker scorecards, deductions, and the promotional calendar that decides the year.
Industrial and Manufacturing
Distributors and specification
Dealer and distributor coverage, specification wins with engineers, territory conflict, price list control, and a forecast production can plan against.
Independent Rep Network
Sellers you do not employ
Agency recruiting, rep agreements, line card attention, commission disputes, and the classification problem that comes with having no direct reports.
Player-Coach
Your first sales leader
Carries a personal number while building the team, with the selling-to-managing shift written into the posting instead of left as a surprise.
Services
Bookings plus retention
Multi-market service agreements, capacity-aware forecasting, proposal and RFP ownership, and clawback language that respects wage deduction rules.
Template 1: National Sales Manager (B2B)
The general version, for a company with a direct field team and a national number. It states the revenue target, the reporting structure, the forecast cadence, and pricing authority as a percentage rather than as a promise.
National Sales Manager Job Description (B2B)
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Owner / President / VP of Sales / CEO]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt (executive; see classification note)
Location: [Headquarters / Remote with travel / Hybrid]
Travel: [__]% of the time, primarily [regions or account concentrations]
Compensation: $_ base plus variable, $_ on-target earnings
ABOUT [COMPANY NAME]
[Company Name] sells [product or service category] to [customer type] across
the United States. We are [revenue stage or team size context] and currently
sell through [direct reps / distributors / independent rep agencies / a mix].
This is a [new / backfill] role created because [reason: coverage gaps, founder
handing off sales, channel expansion].
POSITION SUMMARY
The National Sales Manager owns revenue for the entire United States. The role
sets the national sales plan, manages the field sales team, holds the largest
accounts personally, and reports forecast and pipeline to leadership on a fixed
cadence.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Own the national revenue number: $________ for the [year / fiscal period]
•Build the national sales plan by region, segment, and product line
•Hire, coach, and manage [number] [sales representatives / regional managers]
•Set quotas by territory and review attainment [weekly / monthly]
•Personally manage [number] strategic accounts worth $________ in revenue
•Maintain an accurate rolling forecast in [CRM name] and defend it to
leadership [weekly / monthly]
•Approve pricing and discounts within a documented authority limit of [__]%
•Partner with [marketing / product / operations] on launches and demand
•Represent the company at [number] national trade shows per year
•Recommend hiring, promotion, and termination decisions for the sales team
TERRITORY AND TRAVEL
•Geographic scope: all [50 states / continental US / US and Canada]
•Expected travel: [__] nights per month, concentrated in [quarters or regions]
•Field time with each direct report: minimum [__] ride-along days per quarter
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years of B2B sales experience with [number] years managing sellers
•Documented record of carrying and hitting a number of $________ or larger
•Experience selling [product category] into [customer type]
•Fluency with a CRM and with forecasting discipline, not just activity
•Valid driver's license and ability to travel [__]% of the time
•[Bachelor's degree required / preferred / not required: choose one]
COMPENSATION STRUCTURE
•Base salary: $________ per year, paid [semi-monthly / bi-weekly]
•Variable: [__]% of on-target earnings, paid [monthly / quarterly] against
[national revenue, gross margin, new logo count, team quota attainment]
•Accelerators above [__]% of plan; the written plan document governs
•Expenses: [company card / mileage at the IRS rate / travel policy reference]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE (read before posting)
This role is normally exempt under the FLSA executive exemption: the primary
duty is management, the manager customarily directs the work of two or more
full-time employees, and the manager's recommendations on hiring and firing
carry particular weight. The salary basis test still applies at $684 per week
($35,568 per year), and up to 10 percent of that level may be satisfied by
nondiscretionary bonuses and incentive payments, including commissions, paid at
least annually. If the person spends most of the week selling rather than
managing, test the outside sales exemption instead, or classify the role as
non-exempt and pay overtime with commissions included in the regular rate. This
is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
HOW TO APPLY
Email __ with your resume and one paragraph on the largest
number you have personally carried. Applications reviewed through [date].
Template 2: Consumer Products and Retail Accounts
For a brand selling through grocery, mass, club, or specialty retail. Category reviews, banner distribution targets, broker scorecards, deductions, and trade spend are all in the responsibilities, because leaving them out attracts candidates who have never carried a retail number.
National Sales Manager, Consumer Products and Retail Accounts
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION (CONSUMER PRODUCTS)
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Founder / VP of Sales / Chief Commercial Officer]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt (executive; see classification note)
Travel: [__]% including buyer meetings and [category review windows]
Compensation: $_ base plus variable, $_ on-target earnings
ABOUT [COMPANY NAME]
[Company Name] makes [product category] sold through [grocery / mass / club /
specialty / e-commerce] channels. We are currently in [number] doors across
[number] retail banners and sell through [a broker network / direct / a mix].
This role owns the retail channel end to end.
POSITION SUMMARY
The National Sales Manager owns retail revenue across all banners: buyer
relationships, category reviews, trade spend, broker management, and the
promotional calendar that determines whether the year lands.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Own national retail revenue of $________ and distribution targets by banner
•Present at category reviews and win incremental shelf and door count
•Manage the broker network: scorecards, priorities, and commission terms
•Build and manage the trade spend budget of $________ and report on lift
•Own the annual promotional calendar with [marketing / operations]
•Track and reduce deductions, chargebacks, and unsaleables
•Forecast by item and by banner and feed the production plan
•Manage new item setup, item maintenance, and retailer portals
•Attend [number] category trade shows and [number] buyer summits per year
TERRITORY AND TRAVEL
•Geographic scope: national, with concentration in [banner headquarters cities]
•Expected travel: [__] nights per month, heaviest during [review windows]
•Broker market visits: [__] per quarter
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years selling consumer products into national retail accounts
•Direct experience presenting at category reviews to a [banner type] buyer
•Working knowledge of trade spend, deductions, and retail math
•Experience managing a broker network or independent sales agencies
•Comfort with syndicated market data and retailer reporting portals
•Valid driver's license and ability to travel [__]% of the time
COMPENSATION STRUCTURE
•Base salary: $________ per year
•Variable: [__]% of on-target earnings against [net revenue after trade,
distribution points gained, deduction rate]
•Note: pay on net revenue after trade spend, not gross shipments, or you will
fund promotions twice
•Expenses: [travel policy reference], sample and demo budget of $________
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Normally exempt under the FLSA executive exemption when the primary duty is
management and the manager customarily directs two or more full-time employees.
A consumer products national sales manager who manages brokers rather than
employees may not meet the two-employee test, because independent broker
agencies are not your employees. In that case test the administrative or the
outside sales exemption instead of assuming the executive one applies. Broker
agencies engaged as independent contractors need a written agreement, and the
relationship should look like a business-to-business one in practice, not just
on paper. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
HOW TO APPLY
Email __ with your resume and the banners where you hold
active buyer relationships.
Still Using Spreadsheets for Onboarding?
Automate documents, training assignments, task management, and track onboarding progress in real time.
For a manufacturer selling through distributors and dealers. It covers channel coverage, specification wins with engineering buyers, territory conflict, price list control, and a rolling forecast that production can plan against. Pair it with the territory manager templates if you also staff the regions beneath it.
National Sales Manager, Industrial and Manufacturing
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION (INDUSTRIAL / MANUFACTURING)
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [President / General Manager / Owner]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt (executive; see classification note)
Travel: [__]% including plant visits, distributor calls, and job sites
Compensation: $_ base plus variable, $_ on-target earnings
ABOUT [COMPANY NAME]
[Company Name] manufactures [product category] in [City, State] and sells
through [distributors / dealers / direct to OEM / a mix] across the United
States. Our sales cycle runs [length] and often involves [specification,
engineering approval, or bid processes].
POSITION SUMMARY
The National Sales Manager owns national revenue through the distribution and
•Pay on margin rather than revenue where discount authority sits with the role
•Expenses: [vehicle allowance or mileage at the IRS rate], [travel policy]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Normally exempt under the FLSA executive exemption when the primary duty is
management and the role directs two or more full-time employees. Two cautions
specific to manufacturing. First, if the person is really a senior individual
contributor covering the country alone, the executive exemption does not apply
and you should test the outside sales exemption, which has no salary
requirement but does require that the primary duty is making sales away from
the employer's place of business. Second, distributors and dealers are separate
businesses, so their salespeople are not your employees; do not count them
toward the two-employee test. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
HOW TO APPLY
Email __ with your resume and the distributor networks you
have built or managed.
Template 4: Independent Rep Network
For a company whose sellers are independent manufacturer's rep agencies. Agency recruiting, written rep agreements, line card attention, and commission disputes are the actual job, and the classification note explains why having no direct employees changes the exemption analysis.
National Sales Manager, Independent Rep Network
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION (INDEPENDENT REP NETWORK)
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Owner / President / VP of Sales]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: [Exempt: test executive, administrative, or outside sales; see note]
Travel: [__]% across rep agency territories
Compensation: $_ base plus variable, $_ on-target earnings
ABOUT [COMPANY NAME]
[Company Name] goes to market through [number] independent manufacturer's rep
agencies covering [number] territories. We carry [product category] and compete
for attention inside each agency's line card. This role owns that network and
the revenue that comes through it.
POSITION SUMMARY
The National Sales Manager runs the independent rep network: recruiting
agencies, setting territory and commission terms, training rep principals and
their salespeople, and holding each agency to a documented number.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Own national revenue of $________ delivered through the rep network
•Recruit, evaluate, and replace rep agencies by territory
•Negotiate written rep agreements: territory, commission rate, house accounts,
termination terms, and post-termination commission treatment
•Set an annual number per agency and review attainment [quarterly]
•Train agency principals and their salespeople on product and positioning
•Work in the field with agency salespeople a minimum of [__] days per quarter
•Manage line card attention: keep the company in each agency's top [number]
•Handle commission disputes, split credits, and territory conflicts
•Hold [number] national rep council meetings per year
•Maintain the forecast even though the sellers are not employees
•Expected travel: [__] nights per month, rotating through agency markets
•Onsite time per agency: minimum [__] days per year
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years managing independent manufacturer's rep agencies
•Direct experience writing or negotiating rep agreements
•Ability to influence sellers you do not employ and cannot discipline
•Working knowledge of commission accounting and split credit rules
•Valid driver's license and ability to travel [__]% of the time
COMPENSATION STRUCTURE
•Base salary: $________ per year
•Variable: [__]% of on-target earnings against [network revenue, agency
coverage, revenue per agency, new agency productivity]
•Note: pay this role on network output, not on personally closed deals, or it
will stop managing and start selling
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Classification here needs real thought. Independent rep agencies are separate
businesses, not employees, so a manager whose only "team" is a rep network
usually cannot meet the FLSA executive exemption requirement of customarily
directing two or more full-time employees. Test the administrative exemption,
which turns on office or non-manual work directly related to management or
general business operations with the exercise of discretion and independent
judgment on significant matters, or the outside sales exemption if the primary
duty is really making sales in the field. If neither fits, the role is
non-exempt: track hours and include commissions in the regular rate when
calculating overtime. Separately, confirm that each rep agency genuinely
operates as an independent business, and check your state's sales
representative commission statutes, which often set payment deadlines and
penalties after termination. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
HOW TO APPLY
Email __ with your resume and the rep networks you have
built, rebuilt, or replaced.
Template 5: Player-Coach National Sales Manager
For your first sales leadership hire, where the person carries a personal quota while building the team. The template states the selling-to-managing shift as a month-by-month percentage split, so nobody discovers the expectation in month four. Compare it with the sales manager templates if the scope is really regional rather than national.
Player-Coach National Sales Manager (First Sales Leader)
PLAYER-COACH NATIONAL SALES MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Founder / CEO / Owner]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: [Depends on the actual split of the week; see classification note]
Travel: [__]% of the time
Compensation: $_ base plus variable, $_ on-target earnings
ABOUT [COMPANY NAME]
[Company Name] is a [team size context] company selling [product or service] to
[customer type]. Until now the founder has carried sales personally. This is our
first sales leadership hire, and the person will both sell and build the team
that eventually takes selling off their plate.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Player-Coach National Sales Manager personally carries a book of business
while hiring and coaching the first [number] sales representatives, and is
expected to shift from mostly selling to mostly managing over [number] months.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Selling (approximately [__]% of the role in year one):
•Personally carry a quota of $________
•Own [number] strategic accounts and the top of the pipeline
•Run the full cycle: prospect, qualify, present, negotiate, close
Building (approximately [__]% of the role in year one):
•Document the sales process the founder has been running from memory
•Hire and onboard [number] sales representatives in the first [__] months
•Write the first quota plan, territory map, and commission plan
•Stand up CRM hygiene, stage definitions, and a weekly forecast call
•Coach reps in the field a minimum of [__] days per month
THE SHIFT (state this explicitly)
Months 1 to [__]: [__]% selling, [__]% building
Months [__] to [__]: [__]% selling, [__]% managing
By month [__]: primarily managing, carrying only [number] named accounts
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years closing [product category] plus at least [number] years
managing or formally mentoring sellers
•Willingness to carry a personal number, not just a team number
•Experience building a process rather than inheriting one
•Comfort with ambiguity, a small support function, and direct founder contact
•Valid driver's license and ability to travel [__]% of the time
COMPENSATION STRUCTURE
•Base salary: $________ per year
•Personal quota commission: [__]% of [revenue / gross margin]
•Team override: [__]% of team attainment once [number] reps are hired
•The plan is documented in writing and reviewed at [frequency]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
This is the variant most likely to be misclassified. The FLSA executive
exemption requires that management be the primary duty and that the manager
customarily and regularly directs the work of two or more full-time employees.
On day one a player-coach may have zero reports and spend most of the week
selling, so the executive exemption often does not fit yet. Look at the outside
sales exemption, which has no salary level requirement and applies when the
primary duty is making sales and the employee is customarily and regularly away
from the employer's place of business. An inside seller working from your office
does not meet it. If no exemption applies, classify the role as non-exempt,
track hours, and include commissions in the regular rate for overtime. Reassess
the classification in writing when the team is hired, because the answer can
change mid-year. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
HOW TO APPLY
Email __ with your resume and a short note on the last time
you built a sales process from nothing.
Template 6: Services
For a service business where delivery capacity constrains how fast you can sell. Bookings and retention are both on the plan, the handoff into delivery is a named responsibility, and the clawback language is written to respect state wage deduction rules.
National Sales Manager, Services
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION (SERVICES)
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Owner / President / Chief Revenue Officer]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt (executive; see classification note)
Travel: [__]% of the time
Compensation: $_ base plus variable, $_ on-target earnings
ABOUT [COMPANY NAME]
[Company Name] provides [service category] to [customer type] in [number]
markets across the United States. Our revenue is [recurring / project based /
mixed], and delivery capacity is a real constraint on how fast we can sell.
POSITION SUMMARY
The National Sales Manager owns national bookings for a service business: the
national account list, the sales team, the proposal and pricing process, and the
handoff into delivery that determines whether the sale stays sold.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Own national bookings of $________ and a retention target of [__]%
•Own the national account list and multi-market service agreements
•Approve pricing on proposals and maintain [__]% target gross margin
•Coordinate with operations on capacity before committing delivery dates
•Own the RFP and proposal process, including [bid calendar and win-loss review]
•Run the handoff to delivery and stay accountable through [first 90 days]
•Maintain a rolling forecast that operations can staff against
•Work renewals and expansion inside existing national accounts
TERRITORY AND TRAVEL
•Geographic scope: national across [number] operating markets
•Expected travel: [__] nights per month, weighted toward [new markets]
•Market visits with each direct report: [__] per quarter
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years selling [service category] with [number] years managing sellers
•Experience selling multi-market or multi-site service agreements
•Track record on both bookings and retention, not bookings alone
•Ability to say no to a deal operations cannot deliver
•Valid driver's license and ability to travel [__]% of the time
COMPENSATION STRUCTURE
•Base salary: $________ per year
•Variable: [__]% of on-target earnings against [bookings, gross margin,
retention, expansion revenue]
•Clawback: commissions on accounts that cancel within [__] days are [treated
how], stated in the written plan and compliant with your state's wage
deduction rules
•Expenses: [travel policy reference]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Normally exempt under the FLSA executive exemption when management is the
primary duty and the role directs two or more full-time employees. Two service
business specifics. First, clawback and chargeback provisions interact with
state wage deduction law, and several states restrict deductions from earned
wages, so write the plan so commissions are not "earned" until the condition is
met rather than clawing back wages afterward. Second, if the team is spread
across states, the applicable wage payment law usually follows where each
employee works, not where your headquarters sits. This is general information,
not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
HOW TO APPLY
Email __ with your resume and one example of a national
account you opened and kept.
What to Pay a National Sales Manager
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a separate occupation for national sales managers, so the closest official benchmark is Sales Managers, which covers the title along with regional, district, and divisional sales management. The spread inside that occupation is enormous because reported wages include commissions.
Sales Managers: National Wage Ladder
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), sales managers earned a national median annual wage of $148,270. The 10th percentile earned $73,170, the 25th $100,360, the 75th $207,340, and the 90th $290,540 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS national estimates). Reported figures include commissions, which is why the top and bottom of the range are nearly four times apart.
Because no occupation matches the title exactly, benchmark against the neighbors as well. The classifications below bracket the role from the individual contributor sellers it manages up to the peer management functions it sits beside, all from the same survey vintage.
Nearest BLS classification
National median (OEWS, May 2025)
How it relates to the role
Sales managers
$148,270 per year
Closest match; includes national, regional, and district sales managers
Marketing managers
$166,790 per year
Common peer at the same table; useful for internal equity checks
First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers
$87,520 per year
The layer below at a larger company; a floor reference, not a target
Sales reps, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific
$104,920 per year
The sellers an industrial national manager supervises
Sales reps, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical
$72,080 per year
The sellers a general B2B or consumer products manager supervises
Sales reps of services
$69,990 per year
The sellers a services national manager supervises
Two practical adjustments. First, a small company usually cannot compete at the median on base alone, so weight the offer toward variable pay and make the on-target earnings credible rather than aspirational. Second, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of sales managers to grow faster than average, at 5 to 6 percent from 2024 to 2034, so this is not a market where you can wait out a candidate. Publish a good-faith range where pay transparency laws apply.
Designing the Variable Pay Plan
Write the compensation plan before the job posting, not after the offer. A national sales manager evaluates your company partly by whether the plan exists, because an undefined plan is an unpriced risk and they have been burned by one before.
The base-to-variable split should follow how much of the number the person closes personally. A manager who mostly manages carries a heavier base; a player-coach who personally closes half the revenue carries a lighter one. What must not vary is the clarity of what triggers payment.
Plan element
What to decide before posting
Common small company mistake
Base and on-target earnings
Both stated as dollar figures in the posting
Saying compensation is competitive and negotiating later
Split
60/40 to 80/20 base to variable, set by how much they close personally
Copying a rep plan onto a manager role
Measurement basis
Revenue, gross margin, team quota attainment, or a weighted mix
Paying on gross shipments when trade spend or discounts eat the margin
Payout frequency
Monthly or quarterly, stated in the plan document
Annual payouts that give no in-year feedback
Accelerators
A stated threshold and rate above plan
No accelerator, so overperformance has no reward
Draw
Recoverable or non-recoverable, and for how many months
An informal draw with no written recovery terms
Clawback
Tied to a condition on when commission is earned
Deducting paid wages back, which several states restrict
Plan governance
The written plan governs and is reviewed annually
The offer letter and the plan saying different things
The clawback line deserves attention. It is generally safer to write the plan so commission is not earned until a condition is met, such as the customer paying or an account surviving a set number of days, than to pay first and reclaim wages later. Our guide to commission pay covers how the mechanics interact with wage payment rules.
Overtime and Classification
A national sales manager who genuinely runs a team is normally exempt from overtime under the executive exemption, but the exemption rests on duties rather than on the title. The requirement that trips up small companies is that the manager must customarily and regularly direct the work of two or more full-time employees.
That test is set out in the federal regulation defining the executive exemption, and the Department of Labor summarizes the same four elements in its fact sheet on executive employees. A first national sales manager frequently has one direct report, none at all, or a network of independent agencies that are separate businesses and cannot be counted.
The executive exemption is the usual fit
A national sales manager who genuinely runs a team is normally exempt under the executive exemption. The test has four parts: the employee is paid on a salary basis at not less than $684 per week, the primary duty is management of the enterprise or a recognized department, the employee customarily and regularly directs the work of two or more other full-time employees, and the employee has authority to hire or fire or their recommendations on hiring, firing, and promotion are given particular weight. Three of those four are easy at a growing company. The two-employee test is the one that fails, because a first national sales manager often has one direct report, or none, or a network of agencies that are not employees at all. Count actual full-time employees, not headcount equivalents you wish you had. This is general information, not legal advice.
Outside sales is the fallback, and it has no salary floor
When the person spends the week selling rather than managing, the outside sales exemption is the one to test. It applies when the primary duty is making sales or obtaining orders and contracts, and the employee is customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer's place of business. Two features make it unusual. First, there is no minimum salary requirement at all, so a commission-heavy structure does not defeat it. Second, the away-from-the-office element is real: a seller working the phone from your headquarters does not qualify no matter how national the title sounds. For a player-coach who is on the road most weeks, this exemption often fits better than the executive one in year one. This is general information, not legal advice.
Commissions can carry part of the salary level
Under the current federal rule, employers may use nondiscretionary bonuses and incentive payments, including commissions, to satisfy up to 10 percent of the standard salary level, as long as those payments are made at least annually. The remaining 90 percent has to come as a guaranteed salary paid on a salary basis. That matters for sales roles more than any other job family, because a plan that is 40 percent base and 60 percent variable can still be exempt, but the base has to clear roughly $615 per week on its own before the incentive allowance is applied. The threshold itself is $684 per week, or $35,568 per year, after the 2024 increase was vacated in federal court and formally rescinded. Highly compensated employees at $107,432 or more face a relaxed duties test. This is general information, not legal advice.
If no exemption applies, commissions change the overtime math
A non-exempt salesperson does not simply get time and a half on their base rate. Commissions and nondiscretionary bonuses are part of the regular rate of pay, so overtime has to be recalculated once the commission is known and paid out for the weeks it covers. Employers who classify a commissioned seller as non-exempt and then pay overtime on base salary alone are underpaying, and the shortfall compounds quietly across a year. Get the classification decision made in writing before the first paycheck, keep hours records for anyone non-exempt, and revisit the analysis whenever the job changes materially, such as when a player-coach finally hires their second rep. This is general information, not legal advice.
When management is not the primary duty, the outside sales exemption is the next test, and it fits a traveling player-coach better than the executive one does. If neither exemption applies, the role is non-exempt and needs hours tracked with overtime paid past forty in a week. Our breakdown of exempt versus non-exempt classification works through the tests in order.
Reassess the Classification When the Team Changes
Classification is not a one-time decision on a sales leadership role, because the duties move. A player-coach hired with zero reports and a road-heavy calendar may be exempt under outside sales in month one and exempt under the executive test in month nine, or may drift into non-exempt territory if the travel stops and the team never gets hired. Write the analysis down at hire, note what would change the answer, and revisit it whenever the reporting structure or the travel pattern materially changes.
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A national sales manager almost never lives at your headquarters, and that single fact adds employer obligations in a state you may not currently operate in. Wage payment rules, paid leave entitlements, and final paycheck timing generally follow where the employee works rather than where the company is registered.
Travel is the second variable, and it belongs in the posting as a number. Saying travel is significant tells a candidate nothing; saying eight to ten nights per month, weighted toward the first quarter, lets them decide honestly before they interview. It also protects you, because travel is an essential function and vagueness about it produces early resignations.
What the hire adds
What you have to set up
Who owns it
Employment in a new state
State registration and withholding through your payroll provider
Payroll provider, not your HR system
A written travel policy
Booking rules, per diem or actuals, and approval thresholds
You, before the first trip
Expense reimbursement
A documented process; some states require reimbursement of necessary business expenses
You, with signed acknowledgment on file
A signed commission plan
A retrievable signed copy, versioned by plan year
Document management, not an email thread
Mileage or a vehicle
Mileage at the IRS rate, a car allowance, or a company vehicle policy
You, stated in the offer
Home office equipment
Laptop, phone, and CRM licenses issued before day one
Your onboarding checklist
FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider, so state registration and withholding stay with whoever runs your payroll. What FirstHR does hold is the signed offer, the signed commission plan, the travel and expense policy acknowledgments, and the renewal dates attached to each one.
Screening for the Role
Screen for the channel first and the industry second. A candidate who has built an independent rep network can usually learn your product, while a candidate who has only run a direct field team will struggle with sellers they cannot discipline, no matter how well they know the category.
The single most useful exercise is asking finalists to present a written 90-day territory and quota plan using the information in your posting. It surfaces whether they think in maps and numbers or in activity, and it tells you immediately whether your posting contained enough to plan against. The sales manager interview questions set covers the structured questions to pair with it.
Check References on Forecast Accuracy, Not Revenue
Anybody can name a number they hit. The reference question that separates candidates is whether their forecast was reliable: did the business plan production, hiring, and cash against their numbers and get burned, or not? Ask a former manager or a former operations counterpart, because operations remembers forecast misses far more vividly than sales leadership does. For a small company where one bad quarter of overbuilt inventory hurts, that is the trait worth the most.
Hiring a National Sales Manager Without an HR Department
Small company hiring on this role fails in three predictable places: the founder handoff is never documented, the compensation plan does not exist when the posting goes live, and the administrative load of a remote multi-state hire lands on whoever has the least time. Each has a fix.
The founder is hiring the person who will replace the founder in sales
At most small companies the founder has been the national sales manager without the title, carrying the top accounts and holding the pricing logic in their head. Handing that over is not a staffing exercise, it is a transfer of undocumented knowledge, and the job description is the first honest attempt at writing it down. Force the exercise before you post: which accounts move on day one, which stay with the founder, what discount can be approved without asking, and what the forecast is supposed to look like. If you cannot answer those four in writing, the new hire will spend their first quarter guessing, and you will read that as a bad hire when it was a bad handoff.
You are competing for a candidate who is currently paid on a plan you have not built yet
Strong national sales managers are almost never unemployed, and the one you want is already on a documented plan with accelerators, a territory, and a quota they understand. If your posting says compensation is competitive and the plan will be finalized after start, you have told them the plan is a risk. Write the plan before the posting goes live: base, on-target earnings, what variable is measured on, the payout frequency, and what happens above plan. A candidate who can model their own income in ten minutes will move faster than one who has to interview to find out. Publish a good-faith range where pay transparency rules apply.
One hire adds a state, a travel policy, and a pile of paperwork you have never handled
A national sales manager rarely lives at your headquarters, and the day they accept you inherit a new state to register in, a new set of wage payment rules, an expense reimbursement policy that has to be written down, and a signed commission plan that needs to live somewhere retrievable two years from now. FirstHR was built for that moment at companies without a dedicated HR person. The onboarding wizard runs the same sequence every time, e-signature captures the offer letter and the commission plan acknowledgment, document management keeps the signed plan and the travel policy against the employee profile, and training modules cover expense and conduct policies before the first trip. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR. FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider, so pair it with your payroll and state registration provider.
Once the offer is signed, the work becomes a repeatable onboarding checklist, and for revenue roles specifically our guide to sales onboarding covers ramp expectations and the first 90 days.
Key Takeaways
A national sales manager owns the territory map, quota allocation, channel structure, and national pricing, not just a bigger version of a regional number.
State the channel model in the first two sentences of the posting, because candidates self-select on direct, distribution, broker, or independent rep more than on industry.
Sales managers earned a national median of $148,270 with a 10th to 90th percentile range of $73,170 to $290,540 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), because reported wages include commissions.
Write the compensation plan before the posting: base, on-target earnings, measurement basis, payout frequency, accelerators, and clawback terms.
The executive exemption requires customary direction of two or more full-time employees, which a first national sales manager often does not have, so test outside sales next and reassess when the team grows.
One remote national hire adds a state to register in, a travel policy to write, and a signed commission plan that has to stay retrievable years later.
A national sales manager is often the first hire who lives in another state, travels on the company's money, and signs a compensation plan you will need to produce again in two years. FirstHR runs that onboarding sequence with e-signature for the offer and the commission plan, document storage for the travel and expense policies, and renewal dates tracked against each employee profile. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a national sales manager do?
A national sales manager owns revenue for an entire country rather than a territory or a region. The job has four consistent parts: setting the national sales plan by region, segment, and product line; managing the sellers or channel partners who cover the map; holding the largest accounts personally; and producing a forecast that the rest of the business can plan production, hiring, and cash against. At a small company the role usually also designs the things a larger employer would already have, including the territory map, the quota model, and the commission plan. What separates it from a regional manager is that nobody above them is redrawing the map. What separates it from a VP of sales is that the VP owns the whole function, including headcount planning and compensation design, while the national sales manager owns the number.
What should a national sales manager job description include?
Include eight specifics, and state each in numbers rather than adjectives. First, the national revenue target in dollars. Second, the team size and structure reporting into the role. Third, the channel model: direct reps, distributors, brokers, independent rep agencies, or a mix. Fourth, base salary and on-target earnings, both stated, plus what variable pay is measured on. Fifth, pricing and discount authority as a percentage. Sixth, travel as nights per month rather than a vague percentage. Seventh, the FLSA classification. Eighth, why the role exists now, whether that is growth, a founder handoff, or a coverage gap. Add the equal opportunity statement, note that the written commission plan governs rather than the posting, and name a real person to apply to with a real deadline.
How much does a national sales manager make?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a separate national sales manager occupation, so the closest official benchmark is Sales Managers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), sales managers earned a national median annual wage of $148,270, with the 25th percentile at $100,360, the 75th at $207,340, and the 90th at $290,540. The bottom 10 percent earned $73,170 or less. Those figures cover total wages including commissions, which is why the spread is so wide. For a small company, the realistic reference point is the lower half of that range for base salary with variable pay closing the gap to on-target earnings, and the split typically runs somewhere between 60/40 and 80/20 base to variable depending on how much of the number the person personally closes.
Is a national sales manager exempt from overtime?
Usually yes, but the answer depends on duties rather than on the title. The most common fit is the FLSA executive exemption, which requires a salary basis of at least $684 per week, a primary duty of management, customary and regular direction of two or more full-time employees, and real weight given to the person's hiring and firing recommendations. The two-employee test is where small companies fail: a first national sales manager may have one report, no reports, or only independent rep agencies, which are not employees. When management is not the primary duty, test the outside sales exemption instead, which has no salary requirement but demands that the primary duty is making sales away from the employer's place of business. If neither exemption applies, the role is non-exempt, hours must be tracked, and commissions have to be included in the regular rate when overtime is calculated. This is general information, not legal advice.
What is the difference between a national sales manager and a regional sales manager?
Scope and authority over the map. A regional sales manager runs a cluster of territories and the representatives inside them, executing tactics against a number that someone else assigned. A national sales manager owns the entire country, which means owning the territory map itself, the quota allocation across it, the channel structure, and national pricing. The regional manager optimizes a slice; the national manager decides where the slices go. At a company large enough to have both, national managers supervise regional managers. At a small company the regional layer often does not exist at all, and the national sales manager goes straight from the number to individual representatives, which is exactly why the job description has to state team size and reporting structure explicitly instead of assuming an org chart the candidate cannot see.
What is the difference between a national sales manager and a national account manager?
A national sales manager is a people and revenue leadership role; a national account manager is an individual contributor role focused on specific large customers. The national sales manager owns the whole US number, sets territory and quota structure, and manages sellers. The national account manager personally owns a defined list of large multi-location customers and grows revenue inside them, usually without direct reports. The confusion matters for classification: a manager who supervises two or more full-time employees typically fits the FLSA executive exemption, while an account manager with no reports does not and has to be tested against the administrative or outside sales exemptions. It also matters for compensation, because account managers are usually paid on their own accounts while sales managers are paid on team output.
How do I hire a national sales manager without an HR department?
Write the compensation plan before the posting goes live, because a strong candidate will not leave a documented plan for an undefined one. Then run a short, fixed sequence: post the job description with the number, the team, the channel model, and the on-target earnings stated; screen for the specific channel you sell through rather than for generic sales leadership; ask every finalist to present a written 90-day territory and quota plan; and check references with people who saw their forecast accuracy, not just their revenue. Move fast, because candidates at this level run two or three processes at once. Once they accept, treat onboarding as a checklist rather than a pile: signed offer, signed commission plan, expense and travel policy acknowledgment, state registration where they live, and CRM access. FirstHR runs that sequence with e-signature and document management for companies with no dedicated HR person. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
