National sales manager vs director of sales

The differences between national sales managers and directors of sales can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a national sales manager and a director of sales. Additionally, a director of sales has an average salary of $111,068, which is higher than the $102,742 average annual salary of a national sales manager.

The top three skills for a national sales manager include customer service, product development and trade shows. The most important skills for a director of sales are sales process, customer service, and customer satisfaction.

National sales manager vs director of sales overview

	National Sales Manager	Director Of Sales
Yearly salary	$102,742	$111,068
Hourly rate	$49.40	$53.40
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	94,554	91,891
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	8	8

What does a national sales manager do?

A national sales manager is responsible for leading a large group of sales teams, monitoring sales performance, and implementing strategic sales procedures to drive revenues and achieve the organization's profitability goals. National sales managers identify business opportunities by analyzing current market trends and closing business partnerships to boost the company's brand popularity and attract more customers. They also monitor marketing strategies and negotiate continuous agreements with existing customers to keep them purchasing the company's services. A national sales manager creates sales forecasts, ensuring that the services provided by the organization align with the standard budget goals.

What does a director of sales do?

A sales director is responsible for managing the sales operation of the team, ensuring that members comply with the sales strategies and procedures in meeting sales goals. Sales directors' duties include maintaining consistency of sales targets, providing reports and important updates for sales improvement, managing customers' inquiries and resolving complaints, launching new services to expand product offers, researching the current market trends, and improving sales plans. A sales director must have excellent leadership and decision-making skills to support and acknowledge the team's best efforts.

National sales manager vs director of sales salary

National sales managers and directors of sales have different pay scales, as shown below.

	National Sales Manager	Director Of Sales
Average salary	$102,742	$111,068
Salary range	Between $67,000 And $155,000	Between $73,000 And $168,000
Highest paying City	Hartford, CT	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	New York
Best paying company	NetApp	Mayo Clinic
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Finance

Differences between national sales manager and director of sales education

There are a few differences between a national sales manager and a director of sales in terms of educational background:

	National Sales Manager	Director Of Sales
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Southern California

National sales manager vs director of sales demographics

Here are the differences between national sales managers' and directors of sales' demographics:

	National Sales Manager	Director Of Sales
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 80.4% Female, 19.6%	Male, 69.4% Female, 30.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between national sales manager and director of sales duties and responsibilities

National sales manager example responsibilities.

Manage nationwide SAAS sales team, train, hire, develop territories, create budgets, marketing and sales development.
Manage relationships with clients via CRM, conducted/coordinate city wide site visits, craft creative presentations, proposals and bid packets.
Lead team on product redesign to web-base SaaS infrastructure and generate feature content base on customer need and marketability.
Introduce a foreign manufacture into a dominant domestic automotive and aerospace markets while achieving business goals and domestic tool production plans.
Experience with on-line, call center, recruitment with the use of Salesforce software.
Implement CRM tool tailor specifically for the collegiate market, creating equity and accountability in the inside and outside sales force.

Director of sales example responsibilities.

Lead the OEM business transformation.
Manage projects & action items for EVP.
Manage during periods of dynamic challenge and change relative to start-up, turnaround and revitalization situations.
Manage relationships with toll manufacturers and logistics providers to exceed cost reduction and inventory turn targets.
Cultivate and manage business relationships with wholesale distributors creating positive impact for newsstand product sell at retail.
Full responsibility for all sales activities for a start-up electronic commerce company managing electronic data flow in the healthcare industry.

National sales manager vs director of sales skills

Common national sales manager skills

Customer Service, 10%
Product Development, 10%
Trade Shows, 7%
Sales Growth, 6%
Sales Strategies, 5%
Business Development, 4%

Common director of sales skills

Sales Process, 7%
Customer Service, 7%
Customer Satisfaction, 6%
Sales Management, 6%
Healthcare, 5%
CRM, 4%

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National Sales Manager
National Sales Manager vs Director Of Sales

Updated January 8, 2025

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