A demolition sales manager leads the estimators and reps pricing strip-outs and teardowns. Most of the buyers are general contractors and developers, with property managers and homeowners behind them. The manager decides which bids are worth chasing, sets what every proposal leaves out, and works out the terms of each subcontract.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, other specialty trade contractors · BLS, May 2025
Lead the demolition sales team by setting aggressive sales targets and driving revenue growth while ensuring excellent customer service and contract negotiations. Mentor and motivate sales representatives to achieve their potential and meet company goals. Serve as the primary point of contact for high-stakes contract negotiations, ensuring profitability and customer satisfaction. Play a crucial role in expanding market share within the demolition sector of the home services industry.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Set and monitor competitive sales goals aligned with overall business strategy.
Mentor, train, and develop sales representatives to improve performance and close deals.
Negotiate client contracts and service agreements ensuring terms are beneficial for both the company and the customer.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless project execution from sales to service delivery.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Conduct daily team meetings to review targets, leads, and sales strategies.
Engage with potential and current customers through calls, meetings, and site visits to develop strong business relationships.
Analyze sales metrics and prepare reports to adjust strategies in real-time.
Oversee contract negotiations and ensure compliance with legal and company standards.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Monthly Revenue Growth: Achieve a minimum of 10% increase.
Sales Conversion Rate: Maintain or exceed 25%.
Client Retention Rate: Achieve over 90% retention.
New Contracts Secured: Target an average of 5 new contracts per quarter.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Sales, Marketing or a related field.
Minimum of 5 years’ experience in sales, preferably within demolition or home services.
Exceptional leadership, negotiation and strategic planning skills.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills to build lasting client relationships.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience in the demolition or construction industry with a proven sales track record.
Familiarity with CRM software and modern sales techniques.
Prior involvement in strategic planning and execution of marketing campaigns.
Demonstrated ability in achieving and exceeding sales targets in competitive markets.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to occasionally visit demolition sites and inspect project locations.
Capable of extended periods of standing or walking during site inspections.
Occasionally lift materials or documentation up to 20 lbs.
Comfortable working in a range of conditions including outdoor environments.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard business hours (Monday - Friday, 8:00AM - 5:00PM) with occasional extended hours during peak project periods.
Regular travel to client sites and project locations within the designated territory.
Some remote work flexibility supported by digital collaboration tools.
On-call availability during critical project phases as necessary.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Base salary range: $75,000 - $90,000 USD per year based on experience and performance.
Commission structure based on closed deals and revenue targets.
Health, Dental, and Vision insurance coverage provided.
401(k) plan with company matching, alongside additional performance bonuses.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a dynamic, growth-oriented company committed to excellence in the home services industry.
Our culture promotes innovation, teamwork, and continuous improvement, with ample opportunities for personal and professional growth.
We pride ourselves on a collaborative environment that values diversity, integrity, and customer satisfaction.
Join us to be part of an energetic team focused on driving industry change and setting new benchmarks in demolition services.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
Most of a demolition company's work comes from contractors and owners who send a scope and a bid date. The sales manager wins it with the right bids, a clear proposal and terms the company can live with.
One project, several general contractors
When an owner bids a building, several general contractors may each ask you for a demolition price. The sales manager decides whether each gets the same number, logs which contractor won, and calls the winner fast, before its sub list is set. After a year, the log shows which contractors award to the sub who priced for them and which pass your number to a cheaper sub. Spend estimating hours on the first kind.
The exclusions list protects the margin
Every demolition proposal should list what the price leaves out. Common ones are asbestos and lead removal, cutting off utilities, permits and fees, and shoring the building next door. So are buried tanks, bad soil, night work and backfill. The sales manager keeps one approved list, and reps cross off only what a job really includes. Leave one off and the crew either does it free or the company argues about it, after the building that would settle the question is gone.
Some indemnity clauses don't hold up
A general contractor's subcontract may ask the demolition sub to cover every kind of claim. Illinois, for example, voids any promise in a construction contract, demolition and digging included, to cover another party for its own negligence. The act doesn't apply to bonds or insurance contracts or agreements, so a promise to buy insurance that covers the contractor may still hold. The sales manager flags these clauses and sends odd ones to counsel and the broker. Check each state you bid in before signing. Source: Illinois Construction Contract Indemnification for Negligence Act, 740 ILCS 35/1 (example).
Your injury record is public
Construction is on OSHA's list for yearly online injury reports. Any location that had 20 or more workers at some point in a year sends OSHA that year's injury summary by the next March 2. OSHA then posts the data for anyone to download. Contractors and owners checking a sub may look it up, and many ask for your summaries and your workers' comp experience rating. The sales manager keeps that packet current and can explain a bad year and what changed after it. Source: eCFR: 29 CFR 1904 Subpart E, electronic submission of injury records (1904.41 and Appendix A).
How much demolition sales managers make
Sales managers who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $118,560 a year ($57.00 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $148,270 median for sales managers in all industries. About 940 of the 637,080 sales managers in that survey work for other specialty trade contractors.
A base salary, commission on closed deals and extra bonuses, per the template. On this chart, the base starts just over the lowest tenth and ends a bit beyond the lower quarter, so commission is what moves total pay toward the median. Decide up front whether commission counts change orders for hidden conditions found once demolition starts. They can be large, and nobody on the sales team sold them.
Other specialty trade contractors
$118,560$118,560 median Middle half $82,840–$163,890 10th–90th $72,150–$204,970
All industries
$148,270$148,270 median Middle half $100,360–$207,340 10th–90th $73,170–$290,540
$0k$50k$100k$150k$200k$250k$300k$350k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Other specialty trade contractors
$72,150
$82,840
$118,560
$163,890
$204,970
All industries
$73,170
$100,360
$148,270
$207,340
$290,540
BLS doesn’t publish pay for demolition contractors on their own. These figures cover other specialty trade contractors, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has led reps or estimators whose buyers were contractors and building owners
Reads a subcontract and spots indemnity, retainage and pay terms that need a second look
Prices a strip-out or teardown well enough to check an estimator's number
Turns down bids the crews, machines or bonding can't carry
Keeps contractors' estimators calling after the company loses a bid
Teach these on the job
Your machines, crews and the job types the CEO allows
Your exclusions list and approval limits
Your disposal sites, recyclers and their current rates
Which contractors invite you to bid and how each one awards
Your CRM and bid log reports
The sales manager works from a bid log of every invitation, the price sent to each general contractor and who won, kept beside the estimating sheets and the CRM. Ask finalists to bring a bid log or win report they built and explain one decision it changed.
Demolition sales manager interview questions
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Catching estimate gaps
A rep's estimate for a commercial strip-out leaves out the after-hours work the building requires. What do you do?
A strong answer: Fixes it before it goes out, or if signed, talks with the customer, then coaches the rep and adds the item to the review checklist.
Behavioral · Growing key accounts
Tell me about a time you grew a key contractor account.
A strong answer: Explains how they learned the account's needs, delivered, and expanded the work.
Demolition revenue lands in lumps when a large teardown signs, so read growth over a rolling quarter. Count work won through general contractors apart from work sold straight to owners, and base targets on your own bid log.
Monthly Revenue Growth
Signed contract value per month, set beside that month last year, from the bid log. Keep structural, interior and homeowner work apart, and flag any month carried by one job.
Sales Conversion Rate
Contracts signed divided by bids priced, by general contractor and by job type. Leave out invitations the team chose not to price, and track owner-direct work on its own line.
Client Retention Rate
Last year's clients who sent at least one bid invitation or job this year, out of all of last year's clients. For a general contractor, a new invitation counts even before you win again.
New Contracts Secured
Contracts and purchase orders signed in the quarter, with first-time clients flagged. A new general contractor that awards you a second job within the year shows the first one went well.
Career path
Sales representativePrices teardowns and strip-outs and gets to know the estimators who award them.
When does a demolition sub get its retainage back?
Often long after the crew leaves, since demolition comes first and the building can take a year to finish. On private building projects in Illinois, for one, retainage is capped at a tenth of each payment until the contract is half done, then no more than a twentieth may be held. Once your work is accepted, the general contractor must pay you within 15 days of receiving payment for it, retainage included. The act leaves out public jobs, houses, and apartment buildings of 12 or fewer units. Ask for retainage on your scope to be released when your work is accepted.
How much does a demolition sales manager make?
Sales managers who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $118,560 a year ($57.00 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $82,840 and $163,890 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Which bids should a demolition company pass on?
The ones that don't fit. That might be a building taller or closer to its neighbor than the CEO allows, or a schedule that needs machines booked elsewhere. It might be a contractor that pays slowly, or a bid with no asbestos survey and no time to get one. Passing early leaves estimators time for bids you can win. Log the reason each time, so the pattern shows.
Who owns general contractor relationships, sales or project managers?
Both, with one name per account. The project manager sees the superintendent every day and hears about the next job first. The sales manager owns the tie to the contractor's estimators and owners. Put one owner on each account in the CRM, have project managers pass along every hint of new work, and share credit in the pay plan so neither side sits on a lead.
What should a demolition sales manager check before signing a subcontract?
First, that the scope page matches your proposal and its exclusions word for word. If the two differ, the signed contract usually controls. Check the start and finish dates against the crew schedule. Ask for more time when others cause a delay, such as late asbestos removal or a utility that hasn't cut service. Read the pay, retainage and insurance terms, and send any odd indemnity wording to counsel.
How much time on foot does a demolition sales manager spend?
The template's line on long periods of standing and walking ships unchanged. Here it means walking a building with a general contractor's superintendent before bid day to see what stays, climbing stairs in a gutted building with the elevator out of service, and checking a cleared lot before the final inspection. Put a rough weekly count of those visits in the posting, and name the person who handles accommodation requests.
