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How to hire a sales leader

Sales leader hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring sales leaders in the United States:

  • There are currently 186,979 sales leaders in the US, as well as 458,558 job openings.
  • Sales leaders are in the highest demand in Atlanta, GA, with 72 current job openings.
  • The median cost to hire a sales leader is $1,633.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
  • On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new sales leader to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a sales leader, step by step

To hire a sales leader, you need to identify the specific skills and experience you want in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and advertise the job opening to attract potential candidates. To hire a sales leader, you should follow these steps:

Here's a step-by-step sales leader hiring guide:

  • Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
  • Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
  • Step 3: Make a budget
  • Step 4: Write a sales leader job description
  • Step 5: Post your job
  • Step 6: Interview candidates
  • Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new sales leader
  • Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a sales leader do?

A Sales Leader's responsibility is more than just leading. Most of the tasks involve monitoring the progress of sales, creating strategies to attain financial gains, managing the workforce, and as well as suggesting and enforcing particular options that would be beneficial for the sales and the company. All while making sure that all actions adhere to the policies and standards of the company. Above all, a Sale's Leader must have the passion and determination to drive a team towards the company's goal.

Learn more about the specifics of what a sales leader does
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  1. Identify your hiring needs

    Before you start hiring a sales leader, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    Hiring the perfect sales leader also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

    This list shows salaries for various types of sales leaders.

    Type of Sales LeaderDescriptionHourly rate
    Sales LeaderA Sales Leader plans, leads, and oversees the sales efforts and programs of a company. They work together with colleagues from other departments to improve efficiency and overall service delivery.$15-66
    Co-ManagerA co-manager's role is to supervise business operations and perform administrative tasks as support to a manager. One of the primary functions of a co-manager is to delegate tasks of team members and arrange schedules... Show more$16-57
    Lead Sales RepresentativeA lead sales representative is responsible for selling goods and services to existing and potential customers through electronic communications and area visits. Lead sales representatives should be highly-knowledgeable of the products that the company offers to discuss and demonstrate the features to the client accurately... Show more$15-42
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Product Knowledge
    • Customer Service
    • Sales Floor
    • Store Management
    • Loss Prevention
    • Customer Satisfaction
    • Store Operations
    • Store Associates
    • Drive Sales
    • Cash Handling
    • Payroll
    • Customer Inquiries
    • Cash Receipts
    • Merchandise Flow
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Manage to sales KPI's (including sales and expense budget numbers), assuring efficient and effective use of resources.
    • Manage all lead activity for a specific vertical sales territory, identifying opportunities and engaging appropriate field sales representatives.
    • Provide excellent customer service, operate cash register, offer product and pet knowledge.
    • Charge with training new associates for visual updates, stock processing, client experience, product knowledge, and POS.
    • Assist with payroll and timekeeping duties.
    • Interact with kids while the parents are shopping.
    More sales leader duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in the sales leader job description is a good way to get more applicants. A sales leader salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

    For example, the average salary for a sales leader in North Dakota may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level sales leader. Additionally, a sales leader with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

    Average sales leader salary

    $68,699yearly

    $33.03 hourly rate

    Entry-level sales leader salary
    $33,000 yearly salary
    Updated December 5, 2025

    Average sales leader salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1California$87,872$42
    2Texas$78,929$38
    3District of Columbia$77,584$37
    4Georgia$74,865$36
    5Utah$72,989$35
    6Virginia$71,727$34
    7New York$71,544$34
    8Washington$69,914$34
    9Illinois$66,277$32
    10Arizona$63,015$30
    11Massachusetts$63,008$30
    12Florida$62,765$30
    13Missouri$61,673$30
    14Nevada$61,180$29
    15Colorado$61,056$29
    16North Carolina$59,003$28
    17New Mexico$58,796$28
    18Oklahoma$58,152$28
    19Alabama$57,885$28
    20Wisconsin$56,901$27

    Average sales leader salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1ZS$183,188$88.071
    2Meta$172,352$82.8625
    3Capgemini$172,309$82.8414
    4Cloudflare$172,154$82.773
    5Canva$167,398$80.481
    6Databricks$166,904$80.24
    7Google$165,926$79.7723
    8Asana$161,935$77.85
    9Adobe$158,140$76.03
    10Apple$154,488$74.276
    11Palo Alto Networks$154,264$74.1749
    12UST Global$153,177$73.64
    13NIC$151,079$72.63
    14Workday$150,194$72.21
    15ServiceNow$149,337$71.806
    16Citi$146,727$70.545
    17Accenture$146,712$70.53373
    18IBM$146,336$70.3514
    19Microexcel$143,410$68.95
    20Crown Equipment$143,381$68.9311
  4. Writing a sales leader job description

    A good sales leader job description should include a few things:

    • Summary of the role
    • List of responsibilities
    • Required skills and experience

    Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a sales leader job description:

    Sales leader job description example

    •1-3 years of retail sales experience with supervisory experience (preferred)

    •A passion for fashion trends and a love of selling

    •Experience working with children (preferred)

    •Experience in specialty retail/apparel (preferred)

    •Outstanding communication and problem-solving skills

    •Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic company

    •Ability to process information and operate store systems accurately

    •Availability to work nights, weekends, and holidays (minimum of 3 nights available and Sundays are a MUST!)

    •Be at least 18 years old

    Why You’ll Love Working with Us

    •The Product—is so good, and you’re able to use your employee discount on all of it!

    •The People—ask anyone who works here…we have incredible people on our team!

    Job Description – Janie and Jack Page 2 of 2 10/21

    •The Experience—you’ll enjoy a rewarding career at a respected global children’s brand!

    •The Benefits—a generous employee discount that you can use on all in-store merchandise!

    •Competitive Paid Time Off plan*

    •Extensive 401(k) plan with company matching*

    •Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance*

    •Employee Assistance Program with resources like financial and legal assistance, childcare and elderly care, emotional work/life counseling, health and wellness resources, travel assistance

    *For eligible employees

    What Else?

    Health and safety are our top priorities and we are committed to evolving our health and safety practices to keep our teams, customer, and communities at the core of every decision we make. We’re taking care by requiring employees to wear in our stores and asking our customers to do the same where mandated. In addition, our stores have health guards at checkout, increased cleaning and sanitation efforts, and physical distancing guides. We’ve also implemented health screenings and require all employees to do a health check at the start of each shift.

    The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive. There may be additional duties, responsibilities, and qualifications for this job. Janie and Jack, LLC is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing a workplace free from harassment and discrimination. We are committed to recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting qualified people of all backgrounds, and make all employment decisions without regard to any protected status.


  5. Post your job

    There are various strategies that you can use to find the right sales leader for your business:

    • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
    • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
    • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
    • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.
    Post your job online:
    • Post your sales leader job on Zippia to find and attract quality sales leader candidates.
    • Use niche websites such as salesjobs, salesheads, allretailjobs.com, sales trax.
    • Post a job on free websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    Recruiting sales leaders requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

    It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

    The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

  7. Send a job offer and onboard your new sales leader

    Once you've decided on a perfect sales leader candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

    You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

    After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new sales leader. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

  8. Go through the hiring process checklist

    • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
    • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
    • Define job responsibilities and requirements
    • Establish budget and timeline
    • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
    • Write job description
    • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
    • Promote the job internally
    • Process applications through applicant tracking system
    • Review resumes and cover letters
    • Shortlist candidates for screening
    • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
    • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
    • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
    • Conduct background checks on top candidates
    • Check references of top candidates
    • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
    • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
    • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
    • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
    • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
    • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
    Sign up to download full list

How much does it cost to hire a sales leader?

Before you start to hire sales leaders, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire sales leaders pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.

You can expect to pay around $68,699 per year for a sales leader, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for sales leaders in the US typically range between $15 and $66 an hour.

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