Retail account executive vs director of sales

The differences between retail account executives 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 retail account executive and a director of sales. Additionally, a director of sales has an average salary of $111,068, which is higher than the $70,523 average annual salary of a retail account executive.

The top three skills for a retail account executive include customer service, sales objectives and sales process. The most important skills for a director of sales are sales process, customer service, and customer satisfaction.

Retail account executive vs director of sales overview

	Retail Account Executive	Director Of Sales
Yearly salary	$70,523	$111,068
Hourly rate	$33.91	$53.40
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	167,927	91,891
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	8	8

What does a retail account executive do?

Retail account executives, also referred to as account handlers, work in almost all fields in a retail store or company to help find leads, close deals with customers, formulate strategies to sell slow-moving products, and communicate product value to customers. Their duties and responsibilities include compiling and analyzing data to find trends, providing support to clients by finding out what they are looking for, and handling complaints and negotiations.

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.

Retail account executive vs director of sales salary

Retail account executives and directors of sales have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Retail Account Executive	Director Of Sales
Average salary	$70,523	$111,068
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $94,000	Between $73,000 And $168,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	Mayo Clinic
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between retail account executive and director of sales education

There are a few differences between a retail account executive and a director of sales in terms of educational background:

	Retail Account Executive	Director Of Sales
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Southern California

Retail account executive vs director of sales demographics

Here are the differences between retail account executives' and directors of sales' demographics:

	Retail Account Executive	Director Of Sales
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 49.6% Female, 50.4%	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 retail account executive and director of sales duties and responsibilities

Retail account executive example responsibilities.

Manage inter-company reconciliations, corporate credit card reconciliations, expense reports and purchase order approvals.
Manage retail accounting month-end processes, including account reconciliations and retail sales tax reporting and compliance, ensuring data integrity.
Process accounts payable, accounts receivables and payroll transactions, and monitor collection activity within compliance of SOX utilizing customize software.
Serve as primary troubleshooter for all retail systems (process, POS issues, etc .).
Provide informational technology functions and support to vendor partner location such as: kiosk and computer POS setup.
Approach customers, upselling the benefits of an alternative, mobile Internet solutions.

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.

Retail account executive vs director of sales skills

Common retail account executive skills

Customer Service, 24%
Sales Objectives, 7%
Sales Process, 6%
Sales Associates, 5%
PowerPoint, 5%
Cold Calls, 5%

Common director of sales skills

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

Retail Account Executive vs. similar jobs

Retail Account Executive related careers

Retail Account Executive related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Executive Management Industry
Retail Account Executive
Retail Account Executive vs Director Of Sales

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse executive management jobs