How To Become A National Sales Executive: What It Is and Career Path

What is a national sales executive and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Bill Thorne

Do you know how to set a goal and reach it? If you're a high achiever who knows how to hit your target, you might find that a job as a national sales executive is perfect for you. National sales managers are responsible for developing strategies to achieve sales goals and increase revenue.

If you become a national sales executive, you will likely be expected to develop and implement effective sales strategies, lead nationwide sales team members to achieve sales targets, negotiate and close agreements with large customers, and analyze metrics to suggest improvements leading to improved sales outcomes. You may also be expected to prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual sales forecasts.

National sales executives need to be customer-oriented leaders with strong negotiation skills. They must also have excellent organizational and time management skills. If you're looking to become a national sales executive, you'll probably need a Bachelor's degree at a minimum. A course of study in statistics, marketing, mathematics, finance, accounting, economics, management, and business law is highly preferred.

What general advice would you give to a national sales executive?

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.

ScoreNational Sales ExecutiveUS Average

Salary

5.6

Avg. Salary $71,086

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 32.28%

male 67.72%

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 national sales executive

Explore national sales executive education requirements

Most common national sales executive degrees

Bachelor's

81.7 %

Associate

7.4 %

Master's

6.4 %

Start to develop specific national sales executive skills

Skills	Percentages
CRM	9.85%
Sales Process	7.72%
Business Development	5.71%
Trade Shows	4.70%
Sales Strategies	4.68%

Complete relevant national sales executive training and internships

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

Research national sales executive duties and responsibilities

Obtain leads and persistent in sales calls through SalesForce.
Generate leads through internet research, marketing, trade show participation, internal department cross-selling, and referrals.
Create ROI analyses for medical practices.
Calculate ROI for product categories to forecast product assortments.

Get national sales executive experience

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

Prepare your national sales executive resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your national sales executive 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 national sales executive resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable national sales executive resume templates

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