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

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

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Bill Thorne

A director of sales training is in charge of directing and coordinating a company's sales training programs to ensure the maximum effectiveness of the sales force. They conduct analyses to determine training needs and then formulates sales strategies that will ascertain sales staff are performing to their full potential. Their ultimate objective is to improve employee productivity and employee retention and attain its revenue objectives.

A director of sales training works closely with personnel in sales leadership, sales operations, marketing and finance departments. A successful director of sales training should have sales and marketing experience, leadership skills, interpersonal communication skills, organizational skills, attention to detail and should be well versed with the current sales trends.

A director of sales training works 40 hours a week Monday to Friday from 9 to 5. They spend a considerable amount of time working on a computer to research training areas and prepare training programs.

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

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 Sales TrainingUS Average

Salary

8.3

Avg. Salary $127,893

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 33.49%

male 66.51%

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 sales training

Explore director of sales training education requirements

Most common director of sales training degrees

Bachelor's

73.1 %

Master's

12.8 %

Associate

9.0 %

Start to develop specific director of sales training skills

Skills	Percentages
Sales Management	6.52%
CRM	5.74%
Training Sessions	5.52%
Sales Organization	5.40%
Sales Process	5.14%

Complete relevant director of sales training training and internships

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

Research director of sales training duties and responsibilities

Full responsibility for all sales activities for a start-up electronic commerce company managing electronic data flow in the healthcare industry.
Create and implement a marketing strategy to increase revenue, product awareness, branding and ROI.
Full responsibility for all sales activities for a start-up electronic commerce company managing electronic data flow in the healthcare industry.
Lead all business development initiatives for package and digital sales opportunities within the Americas.

Get director of sales training experience

Generally, it takes 6-8 years to become a director of sales training. The most common roles before becoming a director of sales training include district sales manager, sales representative team lead and account executive.

Prepare your director of sales training resume

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

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a director of sales training resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable director of sales training resume templates

Build a professional director of sales training resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your director of sales training resume.