Director of Sales

The Director of Sales manages and oversees key sales functions, such as, the customer support team, the sales management team, the key account management team, and the sales support team. The Director of Sales ensures that all these departments work effectively and harmoniously in order to ensure the sales force productivity level stays high.

His leadership position is inclusive of planning, quota setting, reporting, management, sales process optimization, sales training, sales job design, sales program implementation, identification and recruitment of sales force talents, and administration. The Director of Sales is responsible for the overall productivity and effectiveness of the assigned teams within the sales department and reports directly to the Chief Sales Officer and relevant stakeholders.

Objectives and Responsibilities of the Director of Sales

Leadership/Supervisory Role: The most prominent role of the Director of Sales is leadership and overseeing the activities of the sales force. In this position the Director of Sales coordinates sales forecasting, budgeting, planning, and process optimization. The Director of Sales monitors and endeavors to maintain high levels of accuracy, quality, and process consistency in the sales force initiatives.

The Director of Sales is also responsible for directing and supporting consistent implementation of the business’s initiatives in all sales strategies and initiatives. In an effort to foster efficient coordination and cohesion, he also directs planning activities with other functions and stakeholders within the business.

The Director of Sales is also tasked with supporting equitable assignment of sales force quotas and ensuring that quotas are optimally assigned to all sales channels. Additionally, the Director of Sales works to ensure that the sales objectives are assigned in a timely fashion and develops the business sales targets and values, hence, creating a working culture for the sales force.

In this position, the Director of Sales will also take initiative in building peer support and strong internal business relationships with key management personnel with a view of enhancing sales efforts.

The Director of Sales coordinates the training of sales management and sales support personnel within the sales department in order to ensure optimal performance of the sales force. At this capacity, the Director of Sales plays a mentorship role to key sales personnel, assisting in the performance of their duties, constantly ensuring improvement in their professional skills, and preparing them for the assumption of his duties in his absence or retirement.

Strategy: The Director of Sales will also play a strategic role, where he coordinates sales forecasting, budgeting, and planning processes to be applied by the team. In this position, the Director of Sales works to maintain high quality in processes and strategies. The Director of Sales coordinates strategic planning activities with the Chief Sales Officer, key stakeholders, and relevant cross-functional departments, for example marketing, in order to align efforts, avoid conflict of interests, and guarantee the success of sales efforts.

Analytical Skills: The Director of Sales is also tasked with an analytical role where he monitors the consumer and competitive environment, conducting sales, consumer, competitive, and performance analyses. In this position, the Director of Sales also monitors the accuracy and efficiency of sales reports as well as other intelligence essentials within the sales department.

He also compiles, refines, and recommends revisions on existing sales reports from junior sales managers prior to presentation to the Chief Sales Officer and key stakeholders for sales strategy formulation and decision-making.

Opportunity: The Director of Sales also has the responsibility of seeking out opportunities that further the sales initiatives. He assists the sales force in the management and understanding of bottlenecks, inconsistencies, and impediments in processes in order to enable constant sales process and strategy improvement.

At this capacity, the Director of Sales also constantly gathers information and keeps sales teams up to date on the latest industry best practices, enabling the business to keep up with competition in the market or even solidify itself as an industry leader.

Collaboration: The role of the Director of Sales is a highly collaborative one where the Director of Sales works with various departments in the business with a view of enhancing sales initiatives. He fosters close and cooperative relationships with fellow internal leaders, sales management, support personnel etc. The Director of Sales works closely with the sales management of all sales departments in order to optimize the effectiveness of the business’s sales efforts at all fronts. The Director of Sales also works with the finance department in formulating and deciding sales team budgetary allocations for optimal functioning and performance.

Additionally, the Director of Sales also works with the Human Resources department in providing the recruitment criteria for key sales team positions in order to guarantee proper execution of duties in those positions and, therefore, the entire sales department. He also liaises with the senior sales management and key stakeholders in conducting and overseeing resource management, strategy formulation and approval, budgetary allocations, among other administrative duties.

Other Duties: The Director of Sales also performs similar duties as are necessary for the proper execution of his duties and duties as assigned by the Chief of Sales or the Employer.

Required Qualifications of the Director of Sales

Education: The Director of Sales must have a master’s degree (PhD preferred) in Sales, Marketing, Finance, Economics or any other business related field. The equivalent of the same in working experience is also acceptable for the position.

Experience: The Director of Sales must have had 10 years of experience working in a senior sales position, preferably as a Head of Sales, Head of Customer Support, Head of Key Account Management, or Head of Sales Operations within a fast-paced and highly competitive environment. The candidate must also have had substantial and successful experience leading a sales team towards the achievement of sales objectives and targets.

A suitable candidate will demonstrate an in-depth understanding of sales operations and business practices for sales systems and processes, for example, sales cycles, opportunity, territory, and pipeline management. The Director of Sales must also demonstrate experience in building sales operations practices in a complex sales organization.

Analytical Skills: The Director of Sales must also have superior analytical skills coupled with strong business acumen. He will demonstrate a deep interest in and understanding of SaaS business drivers and levers as well as a deep understanding of sales quota models and compensation plans. The Director of Sales must also be proficient and have experience in the use of Salesforce, PaaS, and sales automation software such as ParDot. The Director of Sales must demonstrate an ability to draw useful insights from raw information and data and create comprehensive reports, leading to the formulation of effective sales strategies.

Communication Skills: Communication skills are a must have for this position seeing as the performance and effectiveness of the business’s sales force is dependent on the clarity of communications and instructions down the line from the Director of Sales. Communication skills are also imperative in compiling and creating sales reports and presentations for the Chief Sales Officer and relevant stakeholders.

These reports and presentations have to be articulate, clear, concise, and convincing. The Director of Sales must also have an ability to tailor messages for varying audiences and teams in a manner that they can easily understand and resonate with.

Ms Office: The Director of Sales must also demonstrate proficiency in the use of Ms Word, Ms Excel, and PowerPoint, necessary for the creation of visually and verbally engaging reports and presentations for the senior sales management, senior sales management personnel, stakeholders, and collaborating personnel.

Interpersonal Skills: A candidate for this position must be consumer-oriented, task driven, meticulously organized, have strategic thinking capacity, be flexible and accommodative to change, and be able to handle multiple tasks simultaneously and meet tight deadlines.

He must also be self-motivated and be able to inspire the same in a team, be proactive going beyond the call of duty, be comfortable working in group/cross-functional settings, and demonstrate calmness and composure in times of uncertainty.

Leadership/People Skills: A candidate for the position must also possess exceptional leadership skills, demonstrating an ability to move and influence a large team towards a common goal and objective. He must be a person who enjoys planning, executing, and winning as a team.

He must also be an approachable and likeable individual who junior sales management will willingly follow and who will inspire in the business’s top executives, hence, ensuring smooth execution of his functions.

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