Inside Sales Director

80/20•Columbia City, IN

About The Position

The Inside Sales Director will be responsible for developing and executing the Inside Sales strategy in alignment with company revenue and growth objectives. This role involves establishing clear goals for revenue growth, customer acquisition, account penetration, retention, and pipeline development. The Director will identify opportunities to expand business within existing accounts and develop new customers and markets, while also developing customer segmentation and coverage strategies. A key aspect of this role is partnering with commercial leadership to define the appropriate balance between Inside Sales, Field Sales, Business Development, and other sales channels, and translating company growth strategies into actionable Inside Sales initiatives and priorities. The Director will lead, coach, and develop Inside Sales leaders and team members to achieve individual and organizational performance goals, fostering a culture of accountability, ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement. This includes establishing clear roles, responsibilities, expectations, and career paths, developing succession plans, and strengthening the leadership pipeline. The role also involves partnering with Human Resources and Sales Training to develop comprehensive onboarding, product knowledge, sales skills, and ongoing professional development programs, as well as recruiting and retaining high-performing sales talent. The Director will establish and monitor key performance indicators, conduct regular performance reviews and sales pipeline discussions, and use data and analytics to identify trends and opportunities. Developing standardized sales processes, expectations, and best practices, and driving consistent CRM utilization are also critical. The team will develop a strong understanding of customer applications, manufacturing environments, products, and solutions, with strategies to increase customer engagement and expand relationships. The Director will support the development of strategic and high-potential customers, monitor market trends, and ensure timely follow-up on leads and inquiries. Cross-functional collaboration with Field Sales, Marketing, Revenue Operations, Operations, Engineering, Technical Services, and Customer Service is essential. The Director will also identify opportunities to improve sales productivity through technology, automation, standardized processes, and analytics, evaluate sales tools and systems, develop scalable processes, and benchmark performance against industry standards.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Sales, Engineering, or related field preferred.
Equivalent combination of education and relevant experience will be considered.
8+ years of progressive sales experience, preferably within manufacturing, industrial products, engineered products, distribution, or a B2B environment.
5+ years of sales leadership experience with responsibility for developing and leading high-performing teams.
Proven experience achieving revenue growth and sales performance targets.
Experience working within a multi-channel sales organization that includes Inside Sales, Field Sales, distributors, or channel partners.
Strong experience with CRM systems, sales analytics, forecasting, and pipeline management.
Strategic and commercially focused leadership mindset.
Strong understanding of B2B and industrial sales processes.
Ability to develop both people and scalable sales processes.
Strong coaching and performance-management capabilities.
Ability to use data to make decisions and drive accountability.
Excellent communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
Strong financial and business acumen.
Ability to work effectively across Sales, Marketing, Operations, Engineering, Finance, and Human Resources.
Comfortable leading organizational change and developing new ways of working.
Strong customer focus with the ability to balance customer needs with business objectives.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated success building or transforming an Inside Sales organization preferred.
Experience working in a private equity-backed or high-growth manufacturing environment is a plus.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the Inside Sales strategy in alignment with company revenue and growth objectives.
Establish clear goals for revenue growth, customer acquisition, account penetration, retention, and pipeline development.
Identify opportunities to expand business within existing accounts and develop new customers and markets.
Develop customer segmentation and coverage strategies to ensure appropriate sales resources are aligned with market opportunities.
Partner with commercial leadership to define the appropriate balance between Inside Sales, Field Sales, Business Development, and other sales channels.
Translate company growth strategies into actionable Inside Sales initiatives and priorities.
Lead, coach, and develop Inside Sales leaders and team members to achieve individual and organizational performance goals.
Build a culture of accountability, ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Establish clear roles, responsibilities, expectations, and career paths within the Inside Sales organization.
Develop succession plans and strengthen the leadership pipeline.
Partner with Human Resources and Sales Training to develop onboarding, product knowledge, sales skills, and ongoing professional development programs.
Recruit and retain high-performing sales talent as the organization grows.
Establish and monitor key performance indicators, including: Revenue and gross margin, Sales pipeline and pipeline conversion, New customer acquisition, Account growth, Lead response and conversion, Customer retention, Sales activity and productivity, Forecast accuracy.
Conduct regular performance reviews and sales pipeline discussions with the team.
Use data and analytics to identify trends, performance gaps, and opportunities for improvement.
Develop standardized sales processes, expectations, and best practices across the Inside Sales organization.
Drive consistent CRM utilization, opportunity management, and sales activity documentation.
Ensure the Inside Sales team develops a strong understanding of customer applications, manufacturing environments, products, and solutions.
Build strategies to increase customer engagement and expand relationships within targeted accounts.
Support the development of strategic and high-potential customers.
Monitor customer and market trends and provide insights to commercial leadership.
Ensure timely and professional follow-up on inbound leads, marketing-generated opportunities, and customer inquiries.
Partner with Field Sales to establish clear account ownership, lead handoffs, communication expectations, and rules of engagement.
Collaborate with Marketing on campaigns, lead generation, market segmentation, and conversion strategies.
Work closely with Revenue Operations to improve CRM effectiveness, reporting, forecasting, sales processes, and analytics.
Partner with Operations, Engineering, Technical Services, and Customer Service to ensure customer expectations can be successfully delivered.
Serve as a key member of the commercial leadership team and contribute to broader go-to-market strategy.
Identify opportunities to improve sales productivity through technology, automation, standardized processes, and analytics.
Evaluate the effectiveness of sales tools, systems, and resources.
Develop scalable processes that support organizational growth.
Benchmark Inside Sales performance and practices against industry standards and best practices.