WHAT DOES A SALES DIRECTOR DO?
Published: Jan 06, 2025 – The Sales Director develops and implements growth strategies, executes plans to meet financial targets, and drives process improvements using key performance indicators. This position leads contract negotiations, manages customer and partner relationships, and oversees financial management to ensure compliance with established guidelines. By setting clear goals and aligning them with the organization's long-term strategy, the director drives performance, sales workforce engagement, and the expansion of the customer base.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Sales Director
1. Sales Director Details and Accountabilities
- Team Collaboration: Strengthen account teams in GC and communicate with the global/local/DM team.
- Relationship Building: Enhance the relationship and engagement with responsible accounts in the GC region to drive future business growth.
- Target Monitoring: Drive and monitor responsible accounts group business targets.
- Goal Achievement: Achieve targeted goals and maximize JV's business.
- Feedback Management: Provide feedback to GAM/local/DM team on market and customer demands and requirements.
- Account Management: Develop and manage relationships with responsible accounts.
- Opportunity Management: Assess opportunities and manage projects with high sales growth potential.
- Demand Generation: Fight for demand creation resources/competencies to support customers and maximize design wins.
- Forecasting: Ensure timely and accurate revenue forecasting and budgeting for the accounts.
- Budget Planning: Prepare the sales budget by product and define design win/demand creation objectives in agreement with management.
- Coaching: Mentor and coach the team to reach their potential.
- Sales Closing: Close new sales and renewals for Google-focused Digital Inside Sales (DIS) in Asia Pacific.
- Client Relations: Cultivate strong client relationships.
- Sales Leadership: Lead the sales process for Google DIS programs, collaborating with multiple internal departments to develop sales proposals.
2. Sales Director Additional Details
- Sales Planning: Develop, execute, and manage a sales plan to reach the strategic objectives of the company.
- Marketing Strategy: Develop and manage a marketing plan, including digital media, to identify and reach targeted customer groups.
- Customer Engagement: Maintain open, respectful, and trusting dialogue with customers, engaging in regular face-to-face meetings.
- Opportunity Assessment: Identify potential business opportunities and assess the company’s ability to support them.
- Market Analysis: Collect market intelligence on the company’s competitive position and identify growth barriers.
- Sales Support: Support commissioned sales representatives to ensure they meet obligations and represent the company consistently.
- Strategic Planning: Prepare, review, update, and execute the strategic growth plan with the VP.
- Customer Engagement: Directly engage customers in all aspects of the business relationship independently and with senior management.
- Operations Management: Oversee order processing, logistics, technical support, credit, and delinquency.
- Brand Representation: Represent and promote the company with professional and ethical standards.
- Client Relations: Maintain personal contact with key customers in assigned markets.
- Sales Reporting: Handle sales reporting and measure key metrics.
3. Sales Director Essential Functions
- Team Leadership: Lead and develop a team of department managers responsible for supply chain planning and execution.
- Action Planning: Define and deliver action plans to optimize forecast accuracy, service, inventory, and cost levels.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Develop relationships and communicate with Sales, Operations, Product Management, and Finance to align and execute the business plan.
- Sales and Operation Planning Management: Lead the Sales and Operation Planning process to deliver aligned and feasible demand and supply plans.
- Resource Allocation: Secure proactive product/component/capacity allocations during shortages.
- Conflict Resolution: Manage conflict resolution to balance service, costs, and inventory.
- Process Improvement: Ensure disciplined processes and oversee Root Cause Analysis for continuous improvement.
- Reporting and Analysis: Support monthly, quarterly, and annual reporting and business analysis.
- Strategic Planning: Collaborate with the executive team to develop company strategy and goals.
- Sales Process Development: Create and define sales processes that drive success.
- Performance Measurement: Define performance metrics to ensure sales organization success.
- Alignment: Align reporting, training, and incentives with performance management priorities.
- Forecasting Budgeting: Design, implement, and manage sales forecasting, planning, and budgeting.
- Market Analysis: Analyze the market to identify customer needs and new opportunities.
- Team Development: Supervise and develop a strong team through coaching, training, and leadership.
4. Sales Director Role Purpose
- Sales Operations: Sales operations on a long and short-term basis for executive management approval.
- Collaboration with Marketing: Work with the marketing team to build sales tools such as market segment brochures, websites, and others.
- Benchmarking and Best Practices: Ensure benchmarking and sharing best practices with industry-related organizations and other Dover Operating Companies.
- Customer and Internal Communication: Provide clear communication and oversight to communications for customers, distributor partners, and internal communications.
- Team Leadership: Be responsible for the supervision of department employees including the overall direction, mentoring, and training.
- Customer-Focused Leadership: Provide leadership by developing, communicating, and executing a plan that is customer-focused, solution-driven, and dedicated.
- Growth Strategy: Drive profitable growth and market expansion aligned with organizational goals and values.
- Team Collaboration: Foster an atmosphere of partnership, collaboration, and teamwork.
- Recruitment: Recruit, select, orient, and train sales staff.
- Employee Development: Counsel, discipline, and manage sales staff performance.
- Performance Management: Plan, monitor, and appraise job results.
- Continuous Learning: Maintain professional and technical knowledge through workshops.
- Networking: Review publications, build personal networks, and engage in professional societies.
5. Sales Director General Responsibilities
- Sales Strategy: Exceed targets by developing key growth strategies, tactics, and action plans.
- Execution: Successfully execute the strategies required to achieve YOY financial targets.
- Process Improvement: Develop and implement appropriate processes for service resolution utilizing established key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Contract Negotiation: Review commissions, and negotiate contract terms and conditions for Recharge Distributors, Wholesalers, and Partner Sales Channels and Outsourced Resources.
- Leadership: Lead the implementation of mutually agreed strategies, standards, and policies around selling, service, merchandising, and promotions.
- Performance Measurement: Conduct measurements to assess the impact on each channel.
- Financial Management: Manage gross margins and cost of sales in the consumer sales channel in compliance with established guidelines.
- Strategic Planning: Develop and execute plans to expand the customer and partner base within strategic geographic locations.
- Leadership: Assure successful leadership to drive sales workforce engagement and performance effectiveness.
- Relationship Management: Build and maintain strong, lasting customer and partner relationships.
- Product Knowledge: Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of existing products and changing customer needs, collaborating with Product Development to tailor solutions for targeted accounts.
- Goal Setting: Set priorities and goals for the year aligned with the long-term strategy of the organization.
- Inspiration: Inspire employees to continuously improve performance in the best interests of N3/DIS/Accenture and the customer.