What is a Head Of Sales?

The job of the head of sales is pretty self-explanatory. They are in charge of the sales department at a retailer or financial institution. However, actually doing this job is far more complicated than figuring out what it means. The head of sales supervises the work of the whole department and encourages sales representatives to meet their goals. They track the company's progress towards their sales goals and identify which sales strategies are more successful than others. The head of sales is also responsible for implementing new tools or technologies that can help streamline the sales process, such as more advanced CRM software.

Before they can take charge of their department, a head of sales needs many years of sales experience. Many get their start working as sales associates. Most heads of sales have a bachelor's degree in business, although some only have a high school diploma.

It takes many years of hard work to become the head of sales. However, it is worth it since they earn an average salary of $173,941 a year.

What Does a Head Of Sales Do

There are certain skills that many heads of sales have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and customer-service skills.

Learn more about what a Head Of Sales does

How To Become a Head Of Sales

If you're interested in becoming a head of sales, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 62.0% of heads of sales have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 12.7% of heads of sales have master's degrees. Even though most heads of sales have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Head Of Sales
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Head Of Sales Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a head of sales can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as assistant manager, progress to a title such as account manager and then eventually end up with the title director, inside sales.

Head Of Sales

Average Salary for a Head Of Sales

Heads Of Sales in America make an average salary of $166,100 per year or $80 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $248,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $110,000 per year.
Average Head Of Sales Salary
$166,100 Yearly
$79.86 hourly
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Roles and Types of Head Of Sales

The role of a head of sales includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general head of sales responsibilities:

  • Bull; deliver sales targets for imbruvica bull; in collaboration with marketing, develop
  • Global sales enablement strategy / partner with key stakeholders to develop
  • Responsible for the construction and successful execution of the annual business plan for the us

There are several types of head of sales, including:

Director Of Sales

Role:

The director of sales has a lot of responsibility. In addition to leading your team to success, you're also managing sales efforts and planning when to launch new products. There's a lot of strategy hidden behind the job position so make sure your thinking cap is on.

In order to be good at this job, you need to be organized. This is how you'll ensure an efficient workflow. But that's not as important as the way you choose to lead. Directors of Sales learn how to motivate their team rather than dragging them through the mud.

Director of Sales is the short-term game. You rely on the immediate success of a product or service. While you'll be leading your team to successfully releasing and selling these products or services, you will have a bit of customer or client involvement. So make sure you've got your communication skills in check.

  • Average Salary: $111,068
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Director Of Sales And Marketing

Role:

As a Director Of Sales And Marketing, you will oversee marketing-related sales, programs, and budgets. You will be implementing revenue targets and budget goals, evaluating team progress, and participating in securing sales and increasing the number of clients.

You are expected to be creative as a Director Of Sales And Marketing. You need to identify new ideas that will help the business and be able to easily solve problems that might come your way. Next is interpersonal skills. Since you will be dealing with a lot of people, you should know how to efficiently communicate with each of them. Lastly, despite the many tasks you have, you need to stay organized.

You can earn around $115,357 per year on average as a Director Of Sales And Marketing. With a job growth rate of 5%, you also have the chance to explore other roles and careers. You can be a Sales and Marketing Vice President, a Business Development Director, or a Chief Operating Officer.

  • Average Salary: $117,348
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Sales Vice President

Role:

A sales vice president is an executive position that is way up on the corporate ladder. He/She or she is ultimately responsible for the profit the company makes, coming up with sales strategies and overseeing the work of sales teams.

Sales vice presidents represent their company at meetings with major clients. Their eyes are always open to new business opportunities and ways to expand the client base. They set sales goals and analyze data to create reports on sales performance. They research the target consumer base, oversee marketing activities, and educate sales employees on how to increase productivity.

Sales is a big fish in the U.S. job market, with 12.3% of all jobs being sales positions. And at the end of the day, people are not buying products because they need something. They are buying products because they want to be somebody. The caliber of the person selling the product makes or breaks a business, and nobody knows this better than a sales vice president.

  • Average Salary: $143,523
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Head Of Sales Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active head of sales jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where heads of sales earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Head Of Sales Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California4,016$156,394
2Texas2,487$142,584
3New York1,863$170,962
4Florida1,392$136,155
5Illinois1,311$156,641
6Massachusetts1,057$152,673
7Pennsylvania1,038$160,029
8Virginia956$146,500
9Georgia937$150,836
10North Carolina898$164,972
11New Jersey823$158,157
12Washington806$165,041
13Ohio798$170,742
14Colorado737$153,315
15Arizona654$159,682
16Oregon573$179,471
17Minnesota557$172,440
18Tennessee557$131,533
19Maryland538$146,292
20Michigan536$177,807
21Wisconsin471$164,726
22Missouri454$136,490
23Indiana434$144,371
24Utah410$160,447
25Connecticut385$159,891
26South Carolina327$129,980
27Kentucky241$132,881
28Alabama240$130,147
29Kansas237$136,529
30Louisiana228$168,863
31Iowa193$137,543
32Nevada179$160,934
33Arkansas178$140,225
34Oklahoma172$153,661
35New Hampshire166$155,344
36Nebraska140$162,064
37Mississippi131$143,267
38Rhode Island130$144,701
39Idaho122$152,924
40New Mexico111$159,873
41Delaware105$152,579
42Maine92$145,078
43Vermont81$181,989
44Montana80$168,448
45North Dakota61$161,698
46West Virginia61$161,401
47South Dakota52$155,306
48Alaska47$179,882
49Wyoming45$173,568
50Hawaii45$155,643

Head Of Sales Education

Head Of Sales Majors

Business
28.1 %
Finance
8.9 %
Marketing
8.8 %

Head Of Sales Degrees

Bachelors

62.0 %

Masters

12.7 %

Associate

10.2 %

Top Colleges for Head Of Saless

1. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

2. University of Wisconsin - Madison

Madison, WI • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,555

Enrollment

30,360

3. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

4. University of Georgia

Athens, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,830

Enrollment

29,474

5. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Blacksburg, VA • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,620

Enrollment

27,730

6. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

7. Ohio State University

Columbus, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,726

Enrollment

45,769

8. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

9. University of Houston

Houston, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,913

Enrollment

37,291

10. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

Top Skills For a Head Of Sales

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 7.7% of heads of sales listed crm on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.

  • CRM, 7.7%
  • Sales Strategy, 6.6%
  • Sales Organization, 5.4%
  • Product Knowledge, 5.2%
  • Business Development, 4.9%
  • Other Skills, 70.2%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Head Of Sales Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Head Of Sales templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Head Of Sales resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Head Of Sales diversity

Head Of Sales Gender Distribution

Male
Male
67%
Female
Female
34%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among heads of sales, 33.5% of them are women, while 66.5% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among heads of sales is White, which makes up 78.2% of all heads of sales.

  • The most common foreign language among heads of sales is Spanish at 37.4%.

Online Courses For Head Of Sales That You May Like

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Best States For a Head Of Sales

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a head of sales. The best states for people in this position are Vermont, Alaska, Oregon, and Michigan. Heads of sales make the most in Vermont with an average salary of $181,989. Whereas in Alaska and Oregon, they would average $179,882 and $179,471, respectively. While heads of sales would only make an average of $177,807 in Michigan, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Vermont

Total Head Of Sales Jobs: 81
Highest 10% Earn:
$254,000
Location Quotient:
1.06

$181,989

Avg. Salary

View 81 Head Of Sales Jobs In VT

2. Oregon

Total Head Of Sales Jobs: 573
Highest 10% Earn:
$256,000
Location Quotient:
1.39

$179,471

Avg. Salary

View 573 Head Of Sales Jobs In OR

3. Wyoming

Total Head Of Sales Jobs: 45
Highest 10% Earn:
$254,000
Location Quotient:
0.75

$173,568

Avg. Salary

View 45 Head Of Sales Jobs In WY
Full List Of Best States For Heads Of Sales

How Do Heads Of Sales Rate Their Jobs?

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Top Head Of Sales Employers

Most Common Employers For Head Of Sales

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1RadioShack$238,873$114.849
2Cost Plus World Market$205,850$98.9714
3Safeway$204,881$98.5026
4Bloomberg$200,094$96.2010
5Toys"R"Us$190,456$91.5715
6Google$188,571$90.6610
7ANZ Australia$188,362$90.568
8Citi$186,914$89.8610
9*n/a*$185,988$89.4212
10JCPenney$185,024$88.9510
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Updated April 6, 2023