If you are the kind of person who is self-motivated, detail-oriented and enjoys responsibility, you will probably find a fulfilling career in the role of sales director. As the name suggests, this is a senior position overseeing sales-related issues on an organizational scale, leading your teams to meet their targets, as well as communicating with other parts of the business to report and strategize.
In the role of sales executive, you will oversee all sales-related matters, from striving to meet key performance indicators to strategizing on things like large-scale promotional campaigns. You will also be responsible for reporting to senior executives and motivating your team to achieve the goals that those executives set for the organization.
The basic hours of a sales director should stay within the regular business hours of 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, for a standard 40 hours per week. That being said, being a sales director is a senior position, and you will be expected to handle any matters that fall under your remit. This may mean working longer hours in some situations or just getting ahead of your workload during busier periods. Also, suppose you are taking a sales director role at a larger company with multiple locations or one whose customers are large organizations themselves. In that case, you will likely have to travel, which can add to your schedule.
If you are applying for the role of sales director, you will likely already know the value of planning things out, and your job interview is no different. While many questions are straightforward and can be answered easily, there will also be some questions that have no "right and wrong" answer, and it is these questions that it pays to think ahead.
Your cover letter and resume will usually be the first thing your potential employer sees of you and, as such, is the first impression you will make. For this reason, make sure it looks professional and contains all of the basic information your interviewer will need when deciding whether to invite you in for an interview.
In your cover letter, you should expand on anything that you would consider a particular highlight from your previous experience or academic life. This would include awards and any other similarly notable events. You should also touch on why you think you will be a good fit with the company, being sure to present a case for the company benefiting from you being there as much as you benefiting from working there. In your resume, include at least the following;
The outlook for sales directors is positive. While the advent of online shopping has seen a move away from physical stores, the role of sales director is just as important to online shopping, perhaps even more important. Additionally, there is much potential to move on to another role, some laterally and some moving up the pecking order.
There are a number of similar roles that are often confused with that of a sales director, such as sales manager and marketing director. And, in fairness to those who confuse these roles, they are quite similar. However, they are not variations of each other, but different roles entirely. The role of the sales director itself does not have variations; indeed, the significant differences between sales director positions will stem from the industry and business type in which they are working. A sales director for an industrial firm will have a different experience to a sales director from a catering firm. The core purpose of the role remains the same, however.
As mentioned earlier in the article, the role of sales director often commands a generous salary. At the lower end of the scale, an entry-level position can expect to earn around $75,000 per year. That's already above the national average salary in Canada. The average wage for a sales director in Canada is around $100,000 per year, based on an average of 40 hours per week at $51 per hour. At the higher end of the scale, the most experienced and effective sales directors can earn as much as $150,000 per year.
Top paying areas for sales directors in Canada include: Ontario, Alberta, and Quebec.
With such a senior and far-reaching role, it is only to be expected that there will be a lot of moving parts to keep track of. In your role as a sales representative, you will have many duties and responsibilities, including the following;
Sales director work will spend a lot of time working in an office. Indeed, some sales director roles may hardly ever require you to leave the office in the execution of your duties. You may also need to spend time on a sales floor with your team, though this will depend on the organization you are working for. Your role may also involve some travelling, especially if your organization deals with large companies. In general, however, you should expect quite a physically comfortable work environment.
This is obviously a very senior role, which brings with it some quite high requirements in terms of experience and qualifications. Your prospective employer will want you to have at least a bachelor's degree in a relevant field, such as business administration. However, you will stand a much better chance if you have a master's degree. You will also need a wealth of experience. Internships can help with this, but also just working in sales. Many employers are going to want at least 5 years of experience—including some management—though some employers may require as much as 10 years of experience.
Below are some of the most commonly asked questions about sales director jobs.
The criteria for a sales director role are quite high. You will need at least a bachelor's degree in terms of qualifications, though you will stand a much better chance if you have a master's degree. Your degree should be in a related subject, such as business administration, marketing, or communications. You will also need between 5 and 10 years' experience in sales, including some management experience.
There are many job sites out there that advertise sales director jobs around Canada. Randstad often has positions listed on our sales director job seeker page and other sales-related positions.
Applying for a sales director job is easy: create a Randstad profile and search our job offers for vacancies in your area. Then simply send us your CV and cover letter. Need help with your application? Check out all our job search tips here!
Thanks to the internet, we can now easily find new jobs online. The traditional methods of phoning companies up, checking newspapers, and asking around by word of mouth are still there, of course, but now you can check company websites, job listing sites like Randstad, and even follow the social media accounts of companies and people in hiring positions. You can also be among the first to know when a new sales director job is available by signing up for our newsletter.
Sales directors are responsible for overseeing all aspects of sales in an organization, from creating new strategies to motivating sales teams. You will be responsible for putting together and delivering reports for executives and other senior members of the company and may occasionally need to deal with large clients, which can mean some travel as part of your role. You will also be responsible for setting milestones and seeing that your teams reach them.
Being a sales director requires a number of skills, with one of the most important ones being an aptitude for organization and time management. You will have many things to keep track of, so the better you are at planning, the easier you will find the work. Good communication skills are essential, as well as competency with computer systems.
On the face of it, sales executives and sales managers and sales directors look very similar. There are many small differences between the roles, but it can be summarized as sales managers being more inward-facing. Sales managers are more involved with the sales force and internal matters, whereas sales directors will do more meetings with clients and develop new strategies to improve sales performance.