How To Become An Assistant Sales Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is an assistant sales director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Bill Thorne

The average assistant sales director salary is $97,936. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an business major. It usually takes 6-8 years of experience to become an assistant sales director. Assistant sales directors with a Certified Sales Professional (CSP) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 5% and produce 23,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an assistant sales director?

Bill Thorne

Executive Director of the NRF Foundation and Senior Vice President of Communication and Public Affairs of NRF, National Retail Federation

Retail is the largest private-sector employer in the country, directly employing 32 million people and supporting 52 million jobs overall - roughly one-quarter of the U.S. workforce. While COVID-19 has presented new and unexpected challenges, retailers have continued to showcase the industry's resilience and adaptability time and again. The safety and security of customers and employees remains our greatest priority. It is no doubt that the professional environment has changed this year, but retail continues to offer a plethora of career opportunities for graduates and seasoned veterans alike.

ScoreAssistant Sales DirectorUS Average

Salary

7.6

Avg. Salary $97,936

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.24%

Asian 4.07%

Black or African American 3.24%

Hispanic or Latino 9.82%

Unknown 4.41%

White 78.23%

Gender

female 48.90%

male 51.10%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an assistant sales director

Explore assistant sales director education requirements

Most common assistant sales director degrees

Bachelor's

70.3 %

Associate

13.2 %

Master's

7.4 %

Start to develop specific assistant sales director skills

Skills	Percentages
Sales Process	12.63%
Booking	11.80%
Market Trends	5.52%
Sales Presentations	5.10%
Trade Shows	4.57%

Complete relevant assistant sales director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New assistant sales directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an assistant sales director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real assistant sales director resumes.

Research assistant sales director duties and responsibilities

Leverage other sales office resources and administrative/support staff to achieve personal and team relate revenue goals.
Launch sales initiative for start-up company with unique delivery method for continuing medical education programs targeting physicians and other healthcare professionals.
Possess full oversight of RFP processing and response.
Develop and implement sales/collection partnering strategies resulting in over $2.8 MM collect from dealer misrepresent retail contract.

Get assistant sales director experience

Generally, it takes 6-8 years to become an assistant sales director. The most common roles before becoming an assistant sales director include sales manager, senior sales manager team lead and account executive.

Prepare your assistant sales director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your assistant sales director resume.

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