Key takeaways
- A head of sales owns the sales number, the team that delivers it and the process they follow.
- At smaller firms the head of sales still sells; a VP of sales mostly leads managers.
- The first year is about hiring, a written process and a pipeline everyone trusts.
- Sales director is a sister title whose meaning shifts with country and company size.
What is the head of sales role
The head of sales role is the senior person responsible for revenue from new customers, and often renewals too, in a company without a layered sales organisation. They report to the chief executive or a chief revenue officer and lead the sellers directly.
With no one above them in sales, the head of sales makes calls a larger company spreads across several people: which segments to pursue, how deals are qualified, how the team is paid and which tools it uses.
Head of sales vs VP of sales and sales manager
A head of sales sits between the two: more strategic than a sales manager and more hands-on than a VP of sales. Where the lines fall depends on company size, so treat the titles as signals rather than rules.
- Sales manager: coaches a team of reps, runs deal reviews and owns that team's target.
- Head of sales: owns the whole sales number, designs the process, hires, and still works key deals.
- VP of sales: leads several managers, plans territories and capacity, and spends more time with the executive team and the board.
- Sales director: in the UK and Europe often equal to head of sales; in some US firms a level below the VP.
What does a head of sales do in the first year
In the first year a head of sales usually works on three things: hiring, process and pipeline. Most of what follows depends on getting those in order.
Hiring comes first because one leader cannot cover the market alone. Process means a written definition of each deal stage, a qualification rule and clean handovers from marketing and to customer success. Pipeline means enough real opportunities, recorded honestly in the CRM, for the forecast to mean something.
An illustrative first quarter: interview the founders and existing customers, review every open deal, write a one-page playbook, then open the first seller roles. The second quarter tests that playbook on the new hires and fixes what breaks.
What does a head of sales look for when buying tools
A head of sales looks for tools that give sellers time back without hiding what is happening in the pipeline. In a growing firm they are usually the budget holder for sales software, with finance approving larger spend.
Expect questions about adoption, the admin a rep does each day, how data reaches the CRM and who can see what. A head of sales who inherited a cluttered stack will also ask what a new tool replaces, not only what it adds.
Where Pebbles Ai fits
- CapabilityProspecting & customer recordsDeals in the Pebbles Ai CRM (in Beta) carry stage, amount, close date and probability, with board views and saved views a head of sales can review with the team.
- CapabilityAI workspaceThe assistants run in Auto, Plan or Manual mode. In Manual, the mode the web app starts in, CRM writes and sends wait for approval; in Auto they run without asking, so agree with the reps which mode to use.
Common questions
Is head of sales a C-level role?
No. It is a senior role but sits outside the C-suite. Where a chief revenue officer or chief sales officer exists, the head of sales usually reports to them.
Should a head of sales still close deals?
At a startup, usually yes. Closing keeps them near buyers and shows the team how the process should run. As the team grows, their time moves to hiring, coaching and forecasting.
When does a company need a head of sales?
Often when the founders can no longer run every deal themselves and the first sellers need a process to follow. A fractional sales leader can cover the gap before a full-time hire.
About this page. Written by the Pebbles Ai team for people who run sales, marketing and growth. Last updated .
