Export Sales Director
Senior Management // Sales Department
What does an Export Sales Director do?
An Export Sales Director sells books to bookshops and online booksellers in different countries. They often travel around the world meeting booksellers and persuading them to buy books to sell to people in their own country. They will often manage a team of people and set and meet sales targets, selling as many books as possible.
They work closely with their team who are producing and marketing the books to work out which of the books will sell better in different countries and make sure as many booksellers as possible have the information. They then work out what prices and discounts they can offer the bookseller and encourage them to buy as many as possible.
Export sales directors spend a lot of time working with numbers and speaking to customers as well as managing their team of sales managers and sales assistants. In a small company, they may work on their own and manage freelance sales agents in different countries.
What is an Export Sales Director good at?
- Budgeting; drafting budgets and checking on progress for sales targets
- Communication; working with lots of different people and cultures
- Foreign Languages; speaking more than one language is a benefit in this job
- Sales; getting customers to buy as many books as possible
- Pitching; making presentations to customers and colleagues about books and customers in different countries
Who does an Export Sales Director work with?
An Export Sales Director leads a team of people including Sales Managers and Assistants.
How do I become an Export Sales Director?
You would most likely have a sales background with previous roles including Sales / Account Manager or Head of Sales. You don’t necessarily have to have experience in the publishing industry but it helps.