How to craft a great sales director cover letter
Sales directors are not only responsible for closing deals and ensuring client satisfaction but also for overseeing entire sales departments and guaranteeing sales goals are met. Earning a position as a sales director requires a wonderfully written cover letter that showcases your top skills and qualifications that make you the right fit for the job.
In this guide, we talk about the 5 key elements that any good sales director cover letter requires. Continue reading to learn all about:
- Achieving structure with your sales director cover letter header and headline
- Personalizing your sales director cover letter to impress employers
- Crafting an excellent cover letter introduction as a sales director
- Conveying your best qualifications as a sales director
- Concluding your sales director cover letter persuasively
1. How to properly format your sales director cover letter header and headline
When you write a resume, the document automatically has a defined structure thanks to the different sections the information is divided into.
By contrast, a cover letter does not have an inherent structure, making it easy for it to become one large wall of text if you’re not mindful of its appearance. Thus, before you even begin writing the body text of your letter, you should first focus on giving it structure and visual appeal.
This is accomplished through the application of a cover letter header and a cover letter headline.
The header will always come first, containing key information about who you are, what your professional background is, and how you can be contacted.
Additionally, a header should include identifying information about the employer as well, such as the company name and address.
Here is an example of a visually appealing sales director cover letter header
Jane Smith, Sales Director
(123) 456-7890 | janesmith@email.com | linkedin.com/in/jane-smith
To: Jones & Jones Sales Solutions
1234 Street Address
Chattanooga, TN 37405
The next key structural element to include in your cover letter is the headline. Headlines are essentially title statements that preview the most important or interesting information found within a cover letter.
To write a cover letter headline, always include a few relevant keywords, as well as powerful adjectives and verbs that help to hook the employer’s attention.
Here is an example of a well-written headline from a sales director's cover letter
3 Skills that Make Me a Talented Sales Director & the Perfect Addition to Your Team
2. How to personalize your sales director cover letter to impress employers
Let’s face it — employers read tens if not hundreds of cover letters when going through the hiring process. As a result, each cover letter can bleed into the next, making it hard to differentiate between different applicants.
To make your cover letter truly impressive and stand out to employers, you must personalize it as much as possible. The personalization process is done by first researching the company or employer thoroughly and then including that information throughout your letter.
For example, let’s say you discover that an employer values productivity the most in its employees. To reference this, you may choose to describe productivity as one of your top skills and explain how you can help boost the productivity of the employer’s entire sales department.
In addition to referencing these personalized details throughout your cover letter, you should also employ a personalized greeting that addresses a specific person by name, such as a hiring manager.
Here are 3 examples of personalized cover letter greetings
- Dear Hiring Manager Joe King,
- Dear Mr. Joe King,
- Dear Manager Joe King & the Sales Department Team,
3. How to craft an excellent cover letter introduction as a sales director
As a sales director, you know how crucial a strong sales pitch is when attracting new clients.
This is how you should view your cover letter introduction — as a sales pitch in which the product is your professional skills. Your goal is to convey to employers why you are the right fit for the job, compelling them to continue reading to learn more about you.
A strong cover letter introduction will often include:
- A summary of your professional history and experience
- An overview of your professional specializations that make you a stand-out candidate
- A mutual acquaintance that can serve as a professional reference (if you do not have a mutual acquaintance with the employer, you can gain one by expanding your professional network and connecting with relevant professionals on LinkedIn and other platforms)
Here is an example to help demonstrate how to write a sales director cover letter introduction
Dear Hiring Manager Joe King,
As an experienced sales director with 8+ years working in the aerospace industry, I know I can provide your company with the sales leadership needed to thrive. My former coworker, Ms. Kate Yates, is now one of your many talented sales managers and alerted me to this opening at your company. I have chosen to apply due to my high-level skill set being a perfect match for the professional needs you have expressed in the job posting for this position.
4. How to convey your best qualifications as a sales director
Now that you have the employer’s attention hooked following your sales pitch introduction, you can begin offering greater details regarding your top qualifications as a sales director.
The most important qualifications to focus on are your relevant skills and the accomplishments you have achieved because of these skills.
As you describe these, make sure the information you include is highly relevant, concise, and quantifiable (when possible). Remember that your main purpose now is to convey the professional value you have to offer to an employer.
Here are 6 skills to describe in a sales director cover letter
- Managing sales teams
- Creating sales budgets
- Drafting sales reports
- Meeting sales targets
- Communicating with clients
- Leadership (describe your exact leadership style)
Here is an example of how to describe an accomplishment in a sales director cover letter
As the sales director for [Former Employer], I led my team to many great victories by efficiently delegating sales tasks and providing necessary support for each team member. After my team flourished under my leadership, our department was able to exceed quarterly sales targets by nearly 150% on average.
5. How to conclude your sales director cover letter persuasively
It’s time to celebrate — you have made it to the end of your cover letter!
Although you are almost finished writing, you must ensure your conclusion is just as effective as the rest of your cover letter. To do this, you must make it persuasive by encouraging the employer to contact you at their earliest convenience and reiterating your excitement for the position.
Here is an example of a persuasive sales director cover letter conclusion
I am eager to get to know you and your team better and discover how my skills may best benefit you and your clients. Please contact me at your earliest opportunity at (123) 456-7890. The best times to reach me are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. I hope to hear from you soon and look forward to speaking with you directly.
Yours Truly,
[Applicant Name]
If you have ever wondered how a cover letter differs from a resume, this article will tell you everything about the key differences between the two.
