How To Become A Director Of Group Sales: What It Is and Career Path

What is a director of group sales and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Bill Thorne

The director of group sales spearheads the group-related sales functions of an organization. Their job description is similar to that of a regular sales director, but their focus is more on bringing in large-scale sales for the company through various tactics.

The duties of a director of group sales are quite extensive, but in general, they are in charge of directing the events of the group sales department, forecasting results periodically, provides training and coaching to personnel, and ensuring a smooth flow of communication between their department and others departments within the company. A good portion of their time is also spent meeting with clients and ensuring that all of their needs are met.

Most directors of group sales have a bachelor's degree in business, marketing, hospitality management, or another relevant field. They also have extensive experience within their respective industry and have usually taken a supervisory or management role before they became the director. Furthermore, successful individuals in this job have excellent skills in leadership, organization, people management, and customer service.

What general advice would you give to a director of group sales?

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.

ScoreDirector Of Group SalesUS Average

Salary

8.4

Avg. Salary $129,739

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 43.39%

male 56.61%

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 a director of group sales

Explore director of group sales education requirements

Most common director of group sales degrees

Bachelor's

76.8 %

Master's

8.8 %

Associate

8.8 %

Start to develop specific director of group sales skills

Skills	Percentages
Booking	9.78%
Sales Strategies	8.03%
Sales Process	6.17%
Resorts	6.03%
Customer Satisfaction	5.50%

Complete relevant director of group sales training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New directors of group sales 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 a director of group sales based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real director of group sales resumes.

Research director of group sales duties and responsibilities

Contract group room nights through direct client contact; implement hotel-level tactical sales plans to achieve group booking goals.
Full responsibility for all sales activities for a start-up electronic commerce company managing electronic data flow in the healthcare industry.
Charge with booking all group rooms in every market segment
Full responsibility for all sales activities for a start-up electronic commerce company managing electronic data flow in the healthcare industry.

Get director of group sales experience

Generally, it takes 6-8 years to become a director of group sales. The most common roles before becoming a director of group sales include director of sales, sales manager team lead and senior sales manager.

Prepare your director of group sales resume

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

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