Sales Director

Introduction

The Sales Director is responsible for the overall leadership, performance and development of the company’s national sales function.

This is a senior commercial leadership role with direct accountability for revenue growth, gross profit performance, customer engagement, sales execution, pipeline development and the performance of the sales team .

The successful candidate will be expected to build a structured, disciplined and accountable sales organisation that consistently delivers against business objectives.

This is not a purely strategic or office-based leadership position. The Sales Director must be hands-on, commercially astute and actively engaged with customers, salespeople, strategic opportunities and the market .

The role requires someone capable of translating strategy into consistent daily sales execution, identifying where performance is falling short and taking decisive corrective action.

Duties & Responsibilities

1. Revenue and Gross Profit Performance

• Take overall accountability for achieving agreed sales revenue and gross profit targets.

• Develop and execute sales strategies aligned with the company's broader commercial objectives.

• Drive profitable growth rather than revenue growth at the expense of margin.

• Monitor sales performance by salesperson, customer, branch, territory, product category and brand.

• Identify performance gaps early and implement corrective action.

• Improve sales mix, margin discipline and overall customer profitability.

• Ensure discounting and commercial decisions support sustainable business profitability.

2. Sales Leadership and Performance Management

• Lead, develop and manage the national sales team.

• Establish clear expectations, individual objectives and measurable performance standards.

• Build a culture of accountability, urgency, discipline and ownership.

• Conduct structured performance reviews and regular coaching sessions.

• Develop underperforming employees through clear improvement plans and measurable actions.

• Recognise and develop high-performing employees and future sales leaders.

• Address persistent underperformance decisively where coaching and development do not deliver improvement.

• Ensure sales managers and salespeople understand exactly what is expected of them and how their performance will be measured.

3. Sales Execution and Discipline

• Establish and maintain strong sales fundamentals across the organisation.

• Drive disciplined customer call cycles, account planning, meeting activity and opportunity management.

• Ensure salespeople spend appropriate time actively engaging customers and developing business.

• Implement effective quote follow-up processes and improve quotation conversion.

• Ensure meaningful opportunities are actively progressed rather than simply recorded.

• Drive consistent use of the company's CRM, sales reporting, quotation and management tools.

• Ensure sales activity translates into measurable commercial outcomes.

4. Customer Development and Account Management

• Develop stronger penetration of the company's existing customer base.

• Identify underperforming, dormant and declining customers and establish recovery strategies.

• Drive acquisition of new customers and expansion into new market opportunities.

• Ensure clear ownership and accountability for customer relationships.

• Establish structured account plans for strategically important customers.

• Personally maintain relationships with selected key customers and major strategic accounts.

• Accompany salespeople on customer visits where leadership involvement can improve relationships, develop opportunities or assist with closing business.

• Ensure customer engagement extends beyond transactional order taking toward meaningful solution-based selling.

5. Pipeline, Quotes and Forecasting

• Take ownership of the national sales pipeline and forecasting process.

• Ensure sales forecasts are realistic, evidence-based and regularly reviewed.

• Monitor quotation activity, quotation values, conversion rates and ageing opportunities.

• Pay particular attention to high-value quotations and strategically important opportunities.

• Identify stalled opportunities and ensure appropriate follow-up action is taken.

• Improve pipeline quality and forecast accuracy.

• Ensure sales management understands both current performance and likely month-end outcomes.

• Develop corrective recovery plans where forecasts indicate that targets may not be achieved.

6. Strategic and Solution Selling

• Drive a stronger solution-selling culture across the sales organisation.

• Encourage salespeople to identify customer requirements rather than simply respond to product requests.

• Work closely with Product Management, Technical and Solutions teams to develop larger and more complex opportunities.

• Increase the company's participation in higher-value projects and integrated security solutions.

• Develop sales capability across CCTV, access control, intrusion, fire and related electronic security technologies.

• Help salespeople develop stronger commercial and technical conversations with customers.

7. Vendor and Product Alignment

• Work closely with Product Management and senior management to align sales activity with strategic product and vendor objectives.

• Support growth initiatives for key brands and product categories.

• Translate vendor strategies, campaigns, product launches and investment priorities into actionable sales plans.

• Ensure sales teams understand product priorities and relevant market opportunities.

• Support strategic supplier relationships through appropriate forecasting, market feedback and sales execution.

8. Market Development

• Identify changing customer requirements, competitive activity and emerging market opportunities.

• Develop strategies to grow market share in existing territories and markets.

• Identify potential new verticals, customer segments and regional opportunities.

• Maintain strong awareness of competitors, pricing, market positioning and industry developments.

• Provide management with practical market intelligence and recommendations.

9. Data-Driven Sales Management

• Use sales data and management dashboards as active management tools rather than retrospective reporting.

• Monitor key indicators including:

• Sales achievement

• Gross profit achievement

• Customer engagement

• Customer growth and decline

• Quotation activity

• Quote conversion

• Pipeline value

• Opportunity coverage

• Salesperson productivity

• Account activity

• Forecast performance

• Identify trends, exceptions and areas requiring intervention.

• Ensure sales managers and salespeople understand their own performance metrics.

• Base management intervention on facts and measurable outcomes wherever possible.

10. Cross-Functional Leadership

• Work closely with Product Management, Operations, Finance, Technical, Marketing and senior management.

• Ensure sales commitments are commercially and operationally realistic.

• Support inventory planning through accurate sales forecasting and market intelligence.

• Communicate customer requirements and market developments internally.

• Resolve commercial or operational obstacles affecting customer satisfaction and sales performance.

• Ensure the sales function contributes effectively to broader company objectives.

Key Performance Indicators

Performance will include, but not necessarily be limited to

• Revenue versus target

• Gross profit versus target

• Gross profit percentage

• Sales growth

• Customer engagement

• New customer acquisition

• Growth within existing customers

• Recovery of declining or dormant customers

• Quote conversion by volume and value

• Pipeline development

• Opportunity coverage

• Forecast accuracy

• Strategic account growth

• Sales activity and customer engagement levels

• Individual salesperson performance

• Team target achievement

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