A sales director is the senior leader responsible for a company's sales performance. The sales director sets the sales strategy and targets, builds and leads the sales team, manages the pipeline and forecast, and is accountable for converting opportunities into revenue in line with the business plan.
What the role covers
The sales director turns the growth plan into a repeatable sales engine. Responsibilities include defining target customers and territories, designing the sales process, recruiting, coaching and managing salespeople, setting commission plans, running pipeline reviews and producing an accurate revenue forecast.
A strong sales director also owns the CRM and makes sure sales data is reliable enough for the board to plan on.
How it works in a UK business
In UK SMEs the founder is often the best salesperson, and the first sales director is hired to make sales less dependent on them. The role usually reports to the managing director or a commercial director.
Close alignment with marketing on lead definitions, targets and handover is one of the biggest factors in success.
The fractional option
Some businesses need a senior sales leader to build process and coach a team before hiring permanently. A fractional sales director provides this part-time. Leadership Services provides fractional sales directors from its bench of senior directors, from £1,795 per month.
Frequently asked questions
What does a sales director do that a sales manager does not?
A sales manager typically runs a team day to day and drives activity against targets. A sales director sets those targets, designs the sales strategy and process, decides team structure and compensation, and reports to the board on pipeline and forecast. In small teams one person may do both.
How is a sales director measured?
Common measures include revenue against target, pipeline coverage, win rate, average deal size, sales cycle length, forecast accuracy and salesperson retention. The board should agree a small set of these at the start. Agreeing them early gives both the board and the leader a shared definition of success.
Last updated: 5 November 2026