What type of skill sets and experiences do I need to build in order to strengthen my career and move from being a sales manager to Director level and above?

Moving from a Manager to a Director means that you have the skillset to not only take action on tasks or initiatives given to you, but to be the one that provides the strategy and vision that creates the initiatives and tasks. Being proactive in identifying risk or future problems, thinking through possible solutions and what is best for your business, employees and customers, is key to moving from managing to directing. As a Director, you become more concerned with the broader business outcomes ...Read More

My mantra on career advanement has been always around doing the role before you get the title. I have always asked my manager that apart from delivering on my targets what more can I do for him/her.  Specifically around a sales manager moving to a sales director, the biggest difference is from moving to managing ICs to managing managers. It is a very different trait when you are leading 2 or more layers of sales people under you. The shift focuses a lot more from showing the reps how to run the ...Read More

To move from Sales Manager → Director+ you need to shift from “managing a team to hit a number” to “owning a business outcome and aligning Sales to company strategy.” The exact path varies by market and product, but the skill gaps are pretty consistent. Build business literacy (how the company actually makes money)• Unit economics: ACV, gross margin, CAC, payback, retention, expansion, churn drivers • Growth model: PLG vs SLG vs hybrid; where sales fits (conversion, expansion, new logos, strateg ...Read More

There are a number of critical skills required to be successful in sales leadership, but these four are most critical in my opinion. Time Management When leading a team of reps or managers while also working on the business and not just in it, time becomes even more sparse and it's critical to manage it effectively. Highly recommend getting familiar with the Eisenhower Matrix and using it as a mechanism to decide what gets your time and when. I'm always working on improving in this area personal ...Read More

Strategy. That's the major difference between a Manager and Director. If you can operationalize strategy, that makes you a great manager. But if you can identify why things are or are not working, and know what to try and measure (creating a strategy), that's the makings of a great director. My steps are: Have great data. Always be able to track what you are doing down to the smallest activity. The data should be measurements of success, both as a point-in-time and over a time period. This will ...Read More