Director, inside sales vs national sales director

The differences between directors, inside sales and national sales directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a director, inside sales and a national sales director. Additionally, a national sales director has an average salary of $99,665, which is higher than the $57,509 average annual salary of a director, inside sales.

The top three skills for a director, inside sales include customer service, product knowledge and salesforce. The most important skills for a national sales director are CRM, healthcare, and business development.

Director, inside sales vs national sales director overview

	Director, Inside Sales	National Sales Director
Yearly salary	$57,509	$99,665
Hourly rate	$27.65	$47.92
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	105,811	99,107
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	8	8

What does a director, inside sales do?

The role of inside sales directors is to sell services and products over the phone. They are responsible for overseeing sales representatives who make and take telephone calls. They must ensure that the inside sales department is operating smoothly and that sales quotas are met by sales representatives. They may also be involved in the recruitment and training of new sales employees, settle sales disputes in a highly-pressured environment, and ensure that sales representatives have consistent sales leads.

What does a national sales director do?

A national sales director is responsible for monitoring the sales targets and performance of the sales force across the country's regions. National sales directors handle the execution and release of goods and services according to market trends and public demands. They strategize on related business opportunities to identify additional resources that would increase the company's revenue and profitability. A national sales director conducts data and statistical analysis to determine pricing techniques, considering the availability of supplies and its market demands.

Director, inside sales vs national sales director salary

Directors, inside sales and national sales directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Director, Inside Sales	National Sales Director
Average salary	$57,509	$99,665
Salary range	Between $31,000 And $105,000	Between $73,000 And $135,000
Highest paying City	Portland, ME	Mountain View, CA
Highest paying state	Maine	California
Best paying company	Safran	Cargill
Best paying industry	Technology	Pharmaceutical

Differences between director, inside sales and national sales director education

There are a few differences between a director, inside sales and a national sales director in terms of educational background:

	Director, Inside Sales	National Sales Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Wisconsin - Madison	University of Southern California

Director, inside sales vs national sales director demographics

Here are the differences between directors, inside sales' and national sales directors' demographics:

	Director, Inside Sales	National Sales Director
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 66.1% Female, 33.9%	Male, 75.9% Female, 24.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between director, inside sales and national sales director duties and responsibilities

Director, inside sales example responsibilities.

Manage job flow with Peachtree ERP.
Manage A/R to payment terms, including resolution of discrepancies
Manage inside sales team, implement best practices and conduct sales training as CRM administrator on SalesForce.com.
Full responsibility for all sales activities for a start-up electronic commerce company managing electronic data flow in the healthcare industry.
Log all information in SalesForce.
Establish product standards for implementation of ERP package.

National sales director example responsibilities.

Manage relationships, POS, and oversee coffee sales for key core accounts H.T.
Lead team on product redesign to web-base SaaS infrastructure and generate feature content base on customer need and marketability.
Develop key POS material to assist the sales force across the country.
Reverse negative relationship with distributors through personal relationship building, changes in sales execution, and implementation of new distributor programs.
Follow up with program recap including syndicate research to support effectiveness of program as well as ROI analysis.
Partner with vendors to obtain quality merchandise at desirable price points to obtain highest ROI and profit optimization.

Director, inside sales vs national sales director skills

Common director, inside sales skills

Customer Service, 23%
Product Knowledge, 13%
Salesforce, 5%
Purchase Orders, 5%
Order Entry, 4%
Outbound Calls, 4%

Common national sales director skills

CRM, 9%
Healthcare, 9%
Business Development, 5%
Product Development, 5%
Revenue Growth, 5%
Salesforce, 4%

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Director, Inside Sales
Director, Inside Sales vs National Sales Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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