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Director of sales and marketing skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted experts
Adry S. Clark Ph.D.,
Andrea Dixon Ph.D.
Director of sales and marketing example skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical director of sales and marketing skills. We ranked the top skills for directors of sales and marketing based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 10.2% of director of sales and marketing resumes contained customer service as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a director of sales and marketing needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 director of sales and marketing skills for your resume and career

1. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how directors of sales and marketing use customer service:
  • Monitored, measured and evaluated operational effectiveness and performance of all sales/customer service staff to ensure alignment with corporate profit goals.
  • Created innovative and effective presentations as well as developed productive selling programs to develop new accounts and quality customer service.

2. Product Development

Product development is the complete procedure of creating a product from concept until release of the final product. Product development has many stages after which a product is released into the market. Identifying the need, creating the opportunity, conceptualizing a product, and providing a solution, all are different stages of product development.

Here's how directors of sales and marketing use product development:
  • Led process improvement to customer/consumer retention, forecasting process and new product development process producing 17% improvement in service levels.
  • Develop strategic marketing targets through acquisition of new distribution, sales representatives, new product development, and focus market/account priorities.

3. Strategic Sales

Here's how directors of sales and marketing use strategic sales:
  • Developed strategic sales and marketing campaigns and budget for multiple group markets including national accounts, associations and philanthropic entities.
  • Developed and implemented strategic sales and marketing campaigns to create new business as well as grow profitability of existing relationships.

4. Lead Management

Here's how directors of sales and marketing use lead management:
  • Initiated numerous lead generating campaigns for Sales, directing lead management/distribution, and constructed ROI analysis.
  • Manage the implementation and use of the lead management system to provide the statistical information necessary for a successful sales strategy.

5. Business Development

Business development is the ideas or initiatives that work to make business work better. Selling, advertising, product development, supply chain management, and vendor management are only a few of the divisions involved with it. There is still a lot of networking, negotiating, forming alliances, and trying to save money. The goals set for business development guide and coordinate with all of these various operations and sectors.

Here's how directors of sales and marketing use business development:
  • Created a reliable new business development process and prolific sales pipeline in order to close incremental business and drive sales profitability.
  • Work cooperatively to provide business development and operational assistance as required to ensure that company's revenue and profitability goals are achieved

6. Sales Process

Here's how directors of sales and marketing use sales process:
  • Managed lead generation, qualification, business process analysis and sales processes including contract negotiations and service level agreements.
  • Developed tools to facilitate efficient sales processes and secure distribution partners to reduce potential supply chain volatility.

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7. Sales Growth

Here's how directors of sales and marketing use sales growth:
  • Focused on initiatives for sales growth and profit improvement, relationship management, and customer satisfaction.
  • Develop all marketing materials and established programs to promote sales growth of products nationally and internationally.

8. Trade Shows

Here's how directors of sales and marketing use trade shows:
  • Developed and delivered sales presentations, established strategic Alliance partnerships, attended trade shows, & evaluated products and services marketability.
  • Solicited and coordinated logistical arrangements for the outbound international corporate & communications companies attending international trade shows & conferences in Europe.

9. Revenue Management

Revenue management is a form of analysis that attempts to predict the profits a company will earn based on consumer behavior, product pricing, and demand. For many products, this could mean reducing the cost of a product but ensuring the product is in high demand. This can also happen with larger expenses, such as hotel rooms, where different rooms are priced depending on the client's needs and room availability.

Here's how directors of sales and marketing use revenue management:
  • Appointed and trained 12 area revenue management specialists; initiated and developed in-depth training programs and manuals introduced through regional workshops.
  • Monitor room inventory availability and maximize yield by revenue management through online and off line channels and global distribution systems.

10. Direct Sales

Here's how directors of sales and marketing use direct sales:
  • Train and in-service indirect sales representatives, distributors, and end-user on product clinical efficacy and product features & benefits
  • Created and executed comprehensive marketing initiatives and liaised among direct sales and distributor representatives within designated territory.

12. Product Line

Product line is a collection of similar or related products that may be under a single brand manufactured by the same company. It may include different varieties of a specific product of a brand which comes in different categories. In other cases, the product line may differ in some characteristics despite being from the same manufacturer.

Here's how directors of sales and marketing use product line:
  • Performed detailed financial analysis of product line sales and profitability, competitor analysis, acquisitions and divestitures, and board presentations.
  • Develop business plan and strategy for multiple product line markets that ensures attainment of company international sales goals and profitability.

13. Business Plan

Here's how directors of sales and marketing use business plan:
  • Developed five-year business plan including financial projections, profit and loss estimates and capital investment requirements to sustain future growth.
  • Developed and implemented the current business plan for a niche non-profit organization which incorporates risk management strategies.

14. Sales Efforts

Here's how directors of sales and marketing use sales efforts:
  • Prepare and deliver Weekly/Monthly reporting of hotel's performance, booking pace and individual sales efforts to management/ownership.
  • Expanded revenue and the customer base by focusing marketing and sales efforts on international and non-traditional distribution channels.

15. Competitive Analysis

Competitive analysis is the process of assessing your competitors to determine their strengths and weaknesses, It is a part of strategic management that enables one to identify the opportunities and threats a business can face in the market.

Here's how directors of sales and marketing use competitive analysis:
  • Developed competitive analysis positioning papers.
  • Provided accurate status reports, submitted weekly itineraries, generated competitive analysis on share- of market reports, etc.
top-skills

What skills help Directors Of Sales And Marketing find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on director of sales and marketing resumes?

Adry S. Clark Ph.D.Adry S. Clark Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Director, Western Oregon University

The skills that stand out on resumes fall into two categories: 1) Skills required to do the job and 2) Skills almost all employers look for. The most important aspect of resumes is to make sure it reflects exactly what the employer needs. Study the job description, identify key skills, and have them reflected on your resume. Think about transferrable skills, not the specific roles you've had.

Most employers look for skills such as communication (written/oral), flexibility, proactivity, problem-solving, project management, and technical. Make sure to cultivate those skills in whatever role you have, and have examples that demonstrate those skills.

What soft skills should all Directors of sales and marketing possess?

Andrea Dixon Ph.D.

Executive Director, Center for Professional Selling, Frank and Floy Smith Holloway Endowed Professorship in Marketing, President, University Sales Center Alliance 2019-2021, Baylor University

Since sales professionals have a lot of information available to them today via customer relationship management (CRM) systems, the sales manager's "supervisory" role is less important (especially for experienced sellers). Consequently, the sales manager needs to be more of a coach and enabler of high performance. Having confidence balanced with humility allows the sales manager to engage more effectively with their salespeople.
One of the critical soft skills for sales managers going forward will be the ability to connect members of the sales team to others in the organization - in other words, the sales manager of the future needs to have strong skills in network building for others. Sellers have access to data which helps them build success.
They also need access to the right people to turn to when they need specific expertise or assistance.

What hard/technical skills are most important for Directors of sales and marketing?

Andrea Dixon Ph.D.

Executive Director, Center for Professional Selling, Frank and Floy Smith Holloway Endowed Professorship in Marketing, President, University Sales Center Alliance 2019-2021, Baylor University

One of the growing technical skill requirements for sales managers is in the area of data analytics. Our performance and customer systems provide a myriad of data, and the role of the sales manager is to be a sense-maker of that mound of data. What are the implications for changes in strategy or behavior evident in last quarter's activity? How can the sales manager help a specific seller "see" where the data suggest new approaches?

What director of sales and marketing skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Kerri OrdersKerri Orders LinkedIn profile

Assistant Professor of Business, Aquinas College

In terms of a gap year, I recommend that international business students acquire tangible skills, relevant experience and/or certifications which will enhance their success in their desired area of interest. For example, a gap year could consist of gaining technical or digital training overseas, which would also further the students' cultural intelligence and language proficiency. These types of enriching gap year experiences will assist students to distinguish themselves in a highly competitive market. Furthermore, students should focus on broadening and maintaining their global network during a gap year in order to be ready for the job market once the gap year is concluded.

What type of skills will young Directors of sales and marketing need?

Michael MikitkaMichael Mikitka LinkedIn profile

Executive Vice President, MHI – Material Handling Industry

Courses and internships are essential. While the required depth of knowledge may vary from one position to another, employers are generally looking for candidates with strong "people-related" skills, those who are willing to continue to learn, and those with the ability to be flexible and adapt.

By "people-related" skills, I mean the abilities associated with effective communication (listen and express ideas and direction) and the skills related to working independently and a team.

As for the interest to continually learn... from a technology, data, and equipment perspective, today's supply chain looks very different than it did 10-years ago. The willingness and ability to continually learn are essential for anyone in a leadership role.

As for flexibility and adapting...supply chain/logistics is as much about responding to disruption and demand as it is planning for it. There is a predictable demand (i.e., seasonal...everyone knows when back-to-school shopping begins). Then there is the unpredictable demand (i.e., power-outages, wildfires, pandemic) that impact market and the ability to operate. Candidates that express flexibility and problem-solving skills will be much sought-after.

What technical skills for a director of sales and marketing stand out to employers?

Todd Lee GoenTodd Lee Goen LinkedIn profile

Instructor & Internship Director, Christopher Newport University

Technical skills are often industry and/or position specific. Applicants should highlight any technical skills related to the position advertisement and those that add value to the position/organization. Most importantly, requirements for technical skills change with time and technological advances. This means employers value workers capable of adapting to change and continually improving and acquiring new technical skills. Thus, it's usually more important to demonstrate you are capable of learning and developing technical skills than it is to have a specific skill set upon hire (although this is not true for some positions/industries).
That said, technical skills related to online presentations, virtual meetings, virtual networking, remote working and the like are hot commodities right now. While most organizations were in the process of adopting many of these technologies and ways of doing business pre-pandemic, the pandemic accelerated the process. Organizations are making it work, but they often don't know best practices or the most efficient means of working in the largely virtual, pandemic environment. Post-pandemic, many of the remote/virtual changes the pandemic brought will stay in some form. Technical skills that support this type of workplace will make applicants stand out to many employers because they need/want to do virtual/remote business better.

List of director of sales and marketing skills to add to your resume

Director of sales and marketing skills

The most important skills for a director of sales and marketing resume and required skills for a director of sales and marketing to have include:

  • Customer Service
  • Product Development
  • Strategic Sales
  • Lead Management
  • Business Development
  • Sales Process
  • Sales Growth
  • Trade Shows
  • Revenue Management
  • Direct Sales
  • Market Trends
  • Product Line
  • Business Plan
  • Sales Efforts
  • Competitive Analysis
  • Press Releases
  • R
  • Market Research
  • Strategic Plan
  • Direct Reports
  • Group Sales
  • Account Management
  • Sales Objectives
  • Delphi
  • Market Segments
  • Sales Revenue
  • Sales Presentations
  • RevPAR
  • Sales Training
  • Sales Plan
  • SEO
  • Swot Analysis
  • Sales Reps
  • Event Planning
  • ROI
  • Revenue Growth
  • ADR
  • Facebook
  • Market Analysis
  • Client Relationships
  • Twitter
  • Community Events
  • Group Business
  • OEM
  • RFP
  • Cold Calls
  • Strong Management
  • Square Feet
  • Sales Volume

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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