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What does an associate director of sales do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read
Quoted expert
Bill Thorne

An associate director of sales oversees a company's daily sales operations, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Their responsibilities include managing and supervising the workforce, setting goals and guidelines, establishing budgets and schedules, liaising with external business partners, performing research and analysis, gathering and analyzing data, and implementing solutions against vulnerable areas. They monitor the progress of all procedures and report directly to the director. Moreover, an associate director leads and encourages teams to reach goals, all while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.

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Associate director of sales responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real associate director of sales resumes:

  • Manage all reservations by phone and online.
  • Manage RFP process and contribute to budget development.
  • Manage guests itinerary including but not limit to dinning reservations and tours.
  • Full responsibility for all sales activities for a start-up electronic commerce company managing electronic data flow in the healthcare industry.
  • Design, implement and maintain a highly-customize CRM that track all aspects of the sales process.
  • Direct sales and marketing programs for one of Pennsylvania's premier ski and golf resorts.
  • Reorganize CRM database of current and potential clients in order to streamline sales efforts and drive more efficient sales.
  • Supervise Delphi multi-property software implementation and training.
  • Provide SaaS solutions for digital engagement, education and conversion for the financial institutions customers.
  • Team also specializes in SaaS solutions, collateral escrow, and intellectual property development protection escrow.
  • Full responsibility for all sales activities for a start-up electronic commerce company managing electronic data flow in the healthcare industry.
  • Organize all fam tours and special events.
  • Conduct client site inspections, FAM tours and public speaking engagements representing hotel.
  • Assist in developing the marketing plan & build any require PowerPoint presentations.
  • Handle currency and process credit transactions quickly and accurately on POS system.

Associate director of sales skills and personality traits

We calculated that 28% of Associate Directors Of Sales are proficient in Customer Service, Portfolio, and CRM. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Customer-service skills.

We break down the percentage of Associate Directors Of Sales that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Customer Service, 28%

    Directed the customer service department, ensuring quality for over 250 calls and 300 emails per day.

  • Portfolio, 8%

    Delivered innovations across product portfolio and business processes.

  • CRM, 6%

    Manage system integration and user acceptance testing, and all aspects of CRM implementation.

  • Booking, 5%

    Restructured Tour and Travel department to create more efficient booking procedures resulting in faster booking turn around times and increased business.

  • Training Programs, 4%

    Created tailored training programs with integrated testing, ensuring sales representative product knowledge and strategic sales planning.

  • Sales Process, 4%

    Redefined the rolls of the sales administrators to be more hands-on and involved in the sales process and clients.

Common skills that an associate director of sales uses to do their job include "customer service," "portfolio," and "crm." You can find details on the most important associate director of sales responsibilities below.

Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for an associate director of sales to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "sales managers must collect and interpret complex data to target the most promising geographic areas and demographic groups, and determine the most effective sales strategies." Additionally, an associate director of sales resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "reorganized crm database of current and potential clients in order to streamline sales efforts and drive more efficient sales. "

Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling associate director of sales duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "sales managers need to work with colleagues and customers, so they must be able to communicate clearly." According to an associate director of sales resume, here's how associate directors of sales can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "managed all direct sales, lead generation and retention efforts for telecommunications and equipment and leasing division. "

Customer-service skills. This is an important skill for associate directors of sales to perform their duties. For an example of how associate director of sales responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "when helping to make a sale, sales managers must listen and respond to the customer’s needs." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an associate director of sales: "recruited, hired, and managed a team of sales associates, closing coordinators, and customer care representatives. ".

Leadership skills. A big part of what associate directors of sales do relies on "leadership skills." You can see how essential it is to associate director of sales responsibilities because "sales managers must be able to evaluate how their sales staff performs and must develop strategies for meeting sales goals." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical associate director of sales tasks: "support strategic poa initiatives and collaborate closely with the sale leadership team, marketing, and account management teams"

Most common associate director of sales skills

Compare different associate directors of sales

Associate director of sales vs. Sales vice president

Sales vice presidents are top-level executives at a sales, retail, or marketing corporation. Primarily these executives are tasked to direct and lead a sales department or team within the organization. Their objective is to meet or even exceed the sales or marketing standards set for a successful business operation. They manage brands, deploy sales, and distribute the channels of the company. Also, they oversee the internal operations of the organization to establish customer relationships.

If we compare the average associate director of sales annual salary with that of a sales vice president, we find that sales vice presidents typically earn a $10,574 higher salary than associate directors of sales make annually.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both associate director of sales and sales vice president positions are skilled in customer service, crm, and sales process.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, associate director of sales responsibilities require skills like "portfolio," "booking," "training programs," and "sales leadership." Meanwhile a typical sales vice president has skills in areas such as "healthcare," "sales management," "sales strategy," and "revenue growth." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Sales vice presidents tend to make the most money working in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $150,209. In contrast, associate directors of sales make the biggest average salary, $157,415, in the pharmaceutical industry.sales vice presidents tend to reach similar levels of education than associate directors of sales. In fact, sales vice presidents are 2.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Associate director of sales vs. Regional sales vice president

A regional sales vice president is responsible for monitoring the sales performance of the whole sales team within the assigned region, conducting data analysis and market research, and adjusting sales goals and objectives as needed to meet client demands and public interest. Regional sales vice presidents coordinate with each sales team lead to identify business opportunities that would generate more resources for revenues and attract potential clients for business partnerships. A regional sales vice president also handles media relations for promoting brand image to the target audience within the budget limitations and timeframes.

Regional sales vice president positions earn higher pay than associate director of sales roles. They earn a $12,359 higher salary than associate directors of sales per year.A few skills overlap for associate directors of sales and regional sales vice presidents. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "crm," "training programs," and "sales process. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real associate director of sales resumes. While associate director of sales responsibilities can utilize skills like "customer service," "portfolio," "booking," and "sales leadership," regional sales vice presidents use skills like "customer satisfaction," "product line," "revenue growth," and "healthcare."

Regional sales vice presidents may earn a higher salary than associate directors of sales, but regional sales vice presidents earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $160,140. On the other hand, associate directors of sales receive higher pay in the pharmaceutical industry, where they earn an average salary of $157,415.regional sales vice presidents earn similar levels of education than associate directors of sales in general. They're 4.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Associate directors of sales in the next 3-5 years?

Bill ThorneBill Thorne LinkedIn profile

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

COVID-19 has accelerated the trends we've seen over the past few years as retailers reimagine the customer experience, blending online and offline channels. Mobile apps provide in-store wayfinding and augmented reality to allow customers to quickly search products and identify their exact locations in the store. Additionally, many retailers offer Buy Online, Pick-up In-Store (BOPIS), or curbside pickup options so that customers can pay and checkout with minimal or no contact. We expect retailers will continue to use a variety of tools to help shoppers find the items they need and want.

Associate director of sales vs. Market sales manager

Market Sales Managers oversee the performance of the company's products and services in a specific target market. They analyze sales data and prepare related reports. They come up with strategies to address sales concerns and to further improve sales performance. They should be familiar with the current industry trends to ensure that their strategies would bode well with the market. They should also be able to identify the sales strategies that would cater to their market. Market Sales Managers are also assigned to oversee the market sales team. This includes training new hires, cascading company updates and strategies, and engaging the team to perform well.

On average scale, market sales managers bring in lower salaries than associate directors of sales. In fact, they earn a $57,533 lower salary per year.Using the responsibilities included on associate directors of sales and market sales managers resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "customer service," "crm," and "sales process.rdquo;

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an associate director of sales is likely to be skilled in "portfolio," "booking," "training programs," and "sales leadership," while a typical market sales manager is skilled in "sales management," "customer satisfaction," "product knowledge," and "salesforce."

When it comes to education, market sales managers tend to earn lower degree levels compared to associate directors of sales. In fact, they're 6.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Associate director of sales vs. Outside sales manager

An outside sales manager is responsible for monitoring the sales staff performance in selling goods and services to existing and potential clients and ensuring that the team meets sales objectives. Outside sales managers set reasonable sales targets and establish techniques to maximize the staff's efficiency and productivity. They regularly connect with the clients to determine their needs and make any adjustments to business plans as needed. An outside sales manager should have excellent knowledge of the current market trends to identify business opportunities that would generate more revenues and resources.

Outside sales managers typically earn lower pay than associate directors of sales. On average, outside sales managers earn a $48,541 lower salary per year.While both associate directors of sales and outside sales managers complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like customer service, crm, and sales process, the two careers vary in some skills.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "portfolio," "booking," "training programs," and "sales leadership" are skills that commonly show up on associate director of sales resumes. On the other hand, outside sales managers use skills like product knowledge, sales territory, increase sales, and general contractors on their resumes.outside sales managers enjoy the best pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $78,067. For comparison, associate directors of sales earn the highest salary in the pharmaceutical industry.The average resume of outside sales managers showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to associate directors of sales. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 9.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.5%.

Types of associate director of sales

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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