Become a Strategic Leader with a Sales Director Course

A Sales Director’s impact comes from three calls: where to play, the price you hold, and the rules for exceptions. A sales director course should help you make those decisions fast and turn them into a plan the board can back.

Common pressure points are forecast confidence, discount creep at quarter end, too many priorities chasing the same budget, and approvals that slow deals. When those appear, teams hesitate, and boards question the plan.

A modern Sales Director course gives you a way to fix it. You leave with a Strategic Sales Plan and a practical toolkit. During activation you complete a structured project to finalise and implement your plan and embed new practices appropriate to your business. In the sections below we show what to expect, how it differs from manager training, and what to ship by Week 4, Week 8 and Week 12.

See TLSA’s Sales Director course (The Sales Director programme).

Business benefits to expect skilled leadership with clear purpose, strategy aligned to business objectives, a motivated sales team with the resources to succeed, clearer communication of aims and responsibilities, and a positive culture that values contribution.

Who should take a sales director course?

Sales Directors, VPs/Heads of Sales, and founders acting as sales leaders in growing businesses. If you lead strategy, investment and governance rather than day‑to‑day deal coaching, this is for you.

Pre‑work: you complete the Profile Select XT™ Sales (PXT) psychometric; a normative assessment designed for sales leaders. You receive two outputs. First, an individual results profile that analyses Cognitive Thinking Capability, Personal Behaviours matched to the Sales Director role, and Personal and Occupational Interests. Second, Performance Matching that shows how your results map to a Sales Director performance model and highlights strengths and development areas.

What should a sales director course include in 2025?

A strong programme focuses on strategic sales leadership rather than first‑line coaching.

Format: a three‑day interactive event that explores the skills and behaviours needed for the Sales Director role. We use a blended approach of presentation, debate, practical tasks, syndicates and case studies.

You’ll build a strategic sales plan you can share with the board, clarify the leadership operating rhythm and governance appropriate to your business, tune the financial levers such as pricing discipline, discount policy and investment cases, practise change leadership so you can set non‑negotiables and handle resistance, and develop a high‑performance sales leadership team across managers, Enablement and RevOps.

Workshop focus: the expectations of the Sales Director, strategic sales leadership, developing a strategic sales plan, creating a strategic aim and value proposition, empowering and enabling the team, creating a high‑performance sales leadership team, managing change in a strategic sales plan, and dealing with emotion and resistance.

Aim and objectives: align sales strategy to business objectives through strategic sales planning, implementing strategy with clear goals and timelines, developing the business environment so the team is confident and enabled, and developing a high‑performance team with the capability to deliver.

For tailored advisory support, see TLSA’s Sales Leadership Consultancy. And, for pre‑defined pathways, explore Ready‑to‑Go Programmes.

How do you build a strategic sales plan?

Boil the strategy down so the whole business can work it.

Start with your strategic aim and value proposition that states where you’ll win and why. Define where to play and how to win by choosing segments, setting Key Account Management priorities and partner routes. Map the revenue architecture for new, expand and retain with targets and owners. Finish with quarterly initiatives (three to five) with named owners and milestone dates.

TLSA’s Key Account Management and Negotiating Winning Solutions can support plan execution.

What operating rhythm and governance should a Sales Director run?

Build meetings and decision forums that people trust.

Run a monthly leadership meeting that reviews pipeline quality, forecast confidence and risks. Directors often run decision forums for pricing approvals, exception handling and investment decisions. Track your key measures such as win rate, margin, cycle time, forecast accuracy and expansion mix.

Example: Pricing requests above policy go to a weekly forum with a 48‑hour SLA and a required Value & Trade Log.

Example: Exceptions meet on Wednesday at 09:00 with a 48‑hour SLA. Bring the Value & Trade Log. No log, no decision.

Toolbox you will take away: a Strategic Sales Plan template with a completed example, Team Projects to engage the sales function (“Defining the future”, “Understanding customers and the competition”, “Building team values and behaviours”), a Market Capability analysis framework (Customer Intimacy, Operational Excellence, Product Leadership), a Change Map for sequencing change, comprehensive Sales Director Notes, and a Completion Certificate. If the programme carries a professional qualification, the relevant body issues your certificate.

How should a Sales Director lead the leadership team?

Your job is to make managers effective and aligned.

Design the team with first‑line managers, Enablement and RevOps and give each a clear scope. Run manager reviews to a short, consistent agenda and log decisions. Lead change by setting non‑negotiables, explaining the why and recognising wins.

Enablement owns the manager review template and RevOps publishes the director scorecard by 10:00 every Monday.

Practical tip: Pair each new decision rule with one example email so managers can copy the language.

Which financial levers should a Sales Director control?

Hold price without slowing deals.

Set a discount policy and trading rules with clear give/get pairs that protect value. Require short investment cases for headcount, tools or territory moves. Map who signs what and set decision SLAs so approvals move at the right speed.

Director’s note: We publish the discount floor and the trading rules on one page. If a deal needs an exception, the give/get goes in writing.

Useful link: See TLSA’s Negotiating Winning Solutions for structured trading.

Which strategic initiatives should a Sales Director prioritise?

Choose a small number and make them visible.

Choose a handful of visible initiatives: key‑account growth plays with executive mapping and multi‑threading; partner routes to market with success measures; and enablement themes that give managers the tools to support the plan.

How is a Sales Director course different from sales management training?

Sales management courses teach first‑line managers how to coach reps, run 1:1s and manage deals. A sales director course focuses on strategy, investment decisions, governance and leading the leadership team. If you need manager skills, see Managing the Sales Team.

What outcomes should you see by Week 4, Week 8 and Week 12?

Week 4. Draft your strategic sales plan; agree the leadership rhythm; baseline the measures you will track.

Week 8. Pricing/exception governance running; forecast hygiene improving; first initiatives underway.

Week 12. Board‑ready strategic plan; measurable improvements in forecast confidence, margin on wins and expansion pipeline.

Activation (8–12 weeks): you run a structured personal project to finalise and implement your strategic sales plan, test learning in the sales operation, and embed new practices as normal business activity.

ROI event: after activation, you present results at a coaching session to your stakeholders. The session confirms activation, evaluates business impact and records measurable return on investment.

Manager’s note: Publish a one‑page update at each checkpoint: what improved, what slipped and what you’re changing.

Why Sales Directors choose TLSA

We help you make the three director calls and turn them into a rhythm the business can run. We begin with Profile Select XT™ Sales (PXT) pre‑work and a three‑day blended workshop, so you build a strategic sales plan and explore the skills and behaviours needed for the role. You then complete an 8–12 week activation project. We host an ROI coaching event that reviews outcomes and records results. You leave with a Strategic Sales Plan and the course toolkit.

See TLSA’s Sales Director course and ask for a 12‑week activation plan with milestones and an ROI review schedule.

Or, if you need a tailored approach, talk to Sales Leadership Consultancy’s Sales Director course and ask for a 12‑week activation plan with milestones and an ROI review schedule. Or, if you need a tailored approach, talk to Sales Leadership Consultancy.

Case study: Recruitment Sales Leadership (award-winning)

TLSA designed a seven‑month leadership programme with accreditation for the UK’s largest independent financial recruiter. The work combined workshops, tailored case studies, board presentations, field projects, internal progress workshops and one‑to‑one coaching.

The programme concluded with a final accreditation presentation to the board and a TLSA consultant. The business reported revenue growth during tough economic times and later won “Best Recruitment Company to Work For.” As the Chief Executive noted, the judges highlighted “the great support that TLSA offers us in achieving our business and strategic objectives.” Read the case study. For more client feedback, see our testimonials.