Director of Sales

Fortune Fish & Gourmet • Minneapolis, MN

1d • $130,000 - $150,000

About The Position

Fortune International is seeking a hands-on Director of Sales to develop and lead a high-performing sales team within its seafood, meat, poultry, and specialty food distribution business. The role focuses on strengthening sales consultants’ skills, confidence, and effectiveness through field coaching, structured training, and consistent accountability. The Director helps consultants build customer relationships, identify opportunities, communicate product value, and convert opportunities into profitable growth.

Working closely with the Vice President of Sales, the Director translates market objectives into individual development plans and measurable sales results while promoting teamwork and exceptional customer service. The role includes sales-team coaching and development; customer development and revenue growth; pricing and profitability; performance management and sales execution; and cross-functional leadership. Success is measured by improved consultant skills and productivity, effective onboarding and talent development, revenue and gross profit results, customer and account growth, retention and recovery of declining business, and consistent adoption of sales processes and company tools.

Requirements

• Five to seven years of progressive sales experience, including experience managing and developing a sales team.
• Demonstrated success improving sales performance through coaching, training, and individual development.
• Strong understanding of restaurant, hospitality, and foodservice purchasing needs.
• Ability to translate product knowledge into customer-focused selling strategies.
• Strong communication, presentation, relationship-building, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to interpret sales and profitability data and turn findings into practical coaching actions.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and experience using CRM, sales reporting, and pricing tools.
• Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
• Ability to travel within the market for customer visits, field coaching, and team development.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in seafood, meat, poultry, specialty foods, or foodservice distribution is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Conduct regular field visits and joint customer calls to observe selling skills, provide feedback, and reinforce effective sales behaviors.
• Lead weekly one-on-one meetings covering skill development, account strategy, prospect progress, and performance against goals.
• Create individual development plans based on each consultant’s strengths, skill gaps, and career goals.
• Train consultants in prospecting, discovery, product presentations, objection handling, negotiation, closing, and follow-through.
• Develop the team’s ability to sell based on quality, consistency, service, and customer value.
• Partner with buyers, product specialists, and suppliers to build product knowledge, including applications, seasonality, sourcing, and substitutions.
• Develop a structured onboarding process with training milestones and expectations for new sales consultants.
• Promote continuous learning, shared best practices, and personal accountability.
• Coach consultants on account plans to increase product penetration, order frequency, and customer retention.
• Help identify gaps in customer menus and purchasing patterns and recommend products across categories.
• Establish a process to recover declining accounts by identifying root causes, defining next steps, and tracking results.
• Guide prospecting toward customers aligned with the company’s product strengths, service capabilities, and geographic coverage.
• Participate in key customer meetings to support consultant development and advance opportunities.
• Support proposals, product trials, and RFP responses with internal teams.
• Train consultants to explain pricing, communicate cost increases, and manage customer objections.
• Ensure consistent use of pricing tools and timely weekly price adjustments.
• Coach consultants on the effects of product mix, order size, and delivery frequency on account profitability.
• Help the team grow revenue while achieving margin goals and service expectations.
• Translate market revenue and profitability goals into individual targets and weekly priorities.
• Use sales reports to identify coaching needs and opportunities in new business, declining accounts, category growth, and customer profitability.
• Conduct disciplined prospect pipeline reviews, establishing ownership, next steps, and realistic sales forecasts.
• Evaluate business results and the selling behaviors that drive sustainable performance.
• Recognize strong performance and address gaps through timely feedback, targeted coaching, and documented improvement plans.
• Reinforce adoption of CRM, reporting, pricing, and digital ordering tools.
• Partner with purchasing, operations, transportation, customer service, and credit teams to deliver a consistent customer experience.
• Help consultants understand product availability, lead times, special-order requirements, and delivery capabilities so they set accurate customer expectations.
• Share customer feedback, competitive insights, and emerging product needs with internal teams.
• Recruit, select, and retain sales talent that strengthens team capabilities and supports market growth.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director