Sales director: who they are and what they do
A sales director is a member of a company's leadership responsible for revenue and sales strategy. They manage the sales team, set the sales process and targets, oversee the pipeline and forecast and work with marketing on winning customers. Internationally the role corresponds to the position of CSO (Chief Sales Officer) or Sales Director.
What a sales director is responsible for
A sales director holds one number in the company: revenue. Everything else in their job scope is a path to that number.
- Sales strategy. Which segments the company targets, with what offer, through which channels and at what prices. The strategy decides where salespeople go - without it they go everywhere and nowhere.
- Leading the sales team. Hiring, development, coaching, setting targets and compensation. A sales director is a coach, not the best player on the field.
- Sales process and pipeline. Defined stages from first contact to signature, measured conversions between them, discipline in the CRM. The pipeline is the only honest basis for a forecast.
- Forecast and reporting. A revenue forecast leadership can trust, and numbers you can manage from.
- Cooperation with marketing. A shared definition of a qualified lead, a handover process and feedback. This is where the efficiency of the whole acquisition machine is decided - and where, in practice, it most often grinds.
- Key sales relationships. The largest clients and strategic partnerships stay on their desk.
Who they report to and how they fit into leadership
In a typical Czech B2B company a sales director reports directly to the CEO or owner. They sit in leadership alongside the marketing, finance and operations directors. In international nomenclature the role corresponds to a CSO, Chief Sales Officer; larger companies sometimes bring sales and marketing under a single CRO (Chief Revenue Officer) role.
What a sales director costs
The gross salary is only the start of the count. The employer adds contributions of 33.8 % (social 24.8 % and health 9 %), a bonus component tied to hitting the plan, and benefits - a car, a phone, training. The real monthly cost of a senior sales director thus significantly exceeds the advertised salary. Our savings calculator gives a concrete figure based on salary surveys.
When a company does not need a sales director full time
And now the question companies of 20 to 250 people rarely ask, though they should: is there 40 hours a week of work for a senior sales director with us?
In our experience, often there is not. The strategic work - strategy, process, leadership, measurement - is 1 to 3 days a week. The rest of a full-time role is filled by operations the team can handle, or by presence that produces nothing. The company then pays the full senior rate for work of which the senior part makes up a third.
For this situation there is a model internationally called a fractional CSO: an external sales director part time. Same seniority, same responsibility for the sales system, cost from 38 thousand CZK per month. The other option, an interim manager, makes sense in the opposite situation - when a working sales department has lost its leadership and needs someone full time immediately.
Updated: July 2026
Frequently asked questions
What is a sales director's job scope?
Sales strategy and plan, leading and developing the sales team, managing the pipeline and forecast, pricing and key sales relationships, cooperation with marketing and reporting revenue to company leadership.
Who does a sales director report to?
As a rule directly to the CEO or the company's owner. In larger structures they may report to a CRO (Chief Revenue Officer) who oversees sales, marketing and customer care together.
What is the difference between a sales director and a CSO?
In substance, none. CSO (Chief Sales Officer) is the international name for the same role. Czech companies use the title sales director, English-speaking companies use CSO or Sales Director.
How much does a sales director cost?
The real cost to a company is much higher than the gross salary: employer contributions of 33.8 %, performance-linked bonuses and benefits are added on top. For senior director positions the total monthly cost commonly runs into the high hundreds of thousands per year. The savings calculator gives an exact figure for your situation.
What does this role cost full time?
Work out the real cost of a full-time director including contributions, bonuses and benefits - and compare it with the fractional model.