The Director of Sales is responsible for managing the commercial business within their assigned division. This includes sales development, profitability, volume growth, customer retention and development. The Director of Sales will develop, coach, and manage a sales team and maintain excellent business relations with internal and external customers, partners, and principals/suppliers.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities*
Commercial Excellence
- Focus on and identify prospective customer profitability and brand growth opportunities within the assigned division as well as potential cross-selling opportunities
- Collaborate with technical experts, marketing, operations, and other partners to develop and enhance sales strategies, products, and programs to maximize profit by up-selling or cross-selling to existing portfolio
- Support the Sales Team to deliver Gross Profit growth, as follows:
- Ensure all assigned accounts are managed to sustain and grow GP$
- Responsible for margin improvement/management through INSIGHT2PROFIT program
- Develop business opportunities at acceptable gross profit margins
- Develop and document key relationships at multiple levels at all accounts and opportunities
- Support the sales team with sales visits, identifying customer needs and matching our products and solutions
- Coach and challenge the team to identify and exploit opportunities
- Support required sales productivity documentation: sales call reports, internal memos
- Support relationships with key principal suppliers as defined and collaborate on sales growth as part of the company strategy
- Sustain and improve the level of service offered to our customers via:
- Unique and new service initiatives working within company operating procedures
- Communicating opportunities for improvement
- Participating in the investigation of continuous improvement when there is a service failure
- Identifying longer term strategies for product and market expansion
Leadership
- Hire, promote, and develop direct reports and provide effective leadership with ongoing motivation, communication, and development opportunities
- Lead by example by demonstrating top-notch sales skills and strategies
- Focus on creating a high-energy sales culture
- Monitor sales metrics and set benchmarks for individual and team success
- Establish specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals that are aligned with the Company’s overall sales targets and strategic priorities
- Regularly evaluate and provide performance feedback, identify strengths and opportunities for individuals as well as the team
- Coach the team and individuals within it to ensure they are performing at their best
- Analyze individual and team performance, including sales metrics, conversion rates, and GP attainment
- Foster a culture of recognition by acknowledging and celebrating outstanding performance and success
- Support and lead by example, the Company’s culture and strategies
- Exemplify a collaborative working relationship with all functions to support and improve our processes so the company consistently meets or exceeds our customers’ expectations
Learning & Development
- Identify knowledge and skills gaps and create plans to address them
- Develop or source training programs to help enhance the teams’ sales skills as well as your own
- Participate in product and sales training as scheduled, suggesting relevant and required training to support the success of the team and the company
- Participate in ongoing personal development opportunities
- Provide opportunities for developing the team with mentoring, job shadowing, etc.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Sales, Marketing, Business Administration, or relevant field; Master’s degree preferred
- Minimum 5 years of professional sales management experience including CRM use, documentation of sales activities (call reports, account plans, customer/prospect profiles, itineraries, account P&L)
- Success introducing new products to market and supporting base business
- Technical understanding and application of products within the assigned division
- Proven ability to expand profitability of a sales territory and exceed targets within the industry
- Demonstrated ability and skills to sell and grow business based on features, advantages, benefits (FAB’s), understands market pricing, competitive landscape
- Demonstrated leadership, organizational, interpersonal, presentation and negotiation skills
- Self-motivated, high energy, and engaging level of enthusiasm and positive outlook
- Must be able to influence others through clear communications and effective planning
- Software knowledge of Microsoft Office including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
- Act legally and ethically in all professional relationships in adherence with the Company’s culture and values
- Must have a valid driver’s license and evidence of insurability
