Sales Director: Own the First 90 Days

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So, you’re the new Sales Director. Or maybe you’re the founder who just hired one. Listen up.

These first 90 days are not a warm-up. They’re not for “settling in.” They are make-or-break.

If you’re the Sales Director, this is your window to prove you’re more than a title. It’s your shot to take ownership, drive change, and start delivering.

If you’re the founder, this is your moment to empower that ownership—or watch your investment fizzle.

This isn’t the time to observe. You’re here to assess, act, and build a high-performance sales engine. Let’s get to it.

For the Sales Director: This Is Your Game to Win

Your Mindset: Driver, Not Just Manager

Your job is not just to manage reps. Your job is to multiply their effectiveness and drive performance. You are here to build, optimize, and win. That means quick assessment, decisive action, and relentless focus on what moves the needle.

Week 1–4: Listen, Learn, and Light a Fire

Get in deep. Fast.

Start with a full assessment of the four P’s:

• People: Who are your reps? Strengths, weaknesses, coachability, mindset. No sugarcoating.
• Process: What exists? Where is it broken, clunky, or ignored?
• Product: Understand it like a seller. How does it deliver value? What are the key objections?
• Performance: What are the baseline metrics? Activity, conversion rates, deals, velocity.

Find low-hanging fruit. What can you improve right now? A broken routing rule. A rep stuck in the middle of a deal. A no-brainer process tweak. Find something, fix it, and show you’re here to lead.

Connect quickly. One-on-ones with every rep. What are their biggest challenges? What support do they need? What are their goals? Meet key players in Marketing, Product, and Customer Success. Understand how sales fits into the broader business.

Days 30–60: Build Your Attack Plan and Start Executing

Build and share your 90-day plan. What are your top priorities? What actions are you taking? What results do you expect? Put it in writing and share it with your CEO. This is your roadmap, not a suggestion box.

Fix what’s clearly broken. If lead flow is messy or the CRM is a black hole, don’t wait. Start leading through action.

Coach in the trenches. Review calls. Dissect deals. Run skill drills. Help reps win through skill—not by taking over their deals. If you’re closing deals yourself, you’re not a Director. You’re just another AE.

Establish your rhythm. What’s the cadence for team meetings? One-on-ones? Forecasting? Coaching? Create structure and set clear expectations.

Days 60–90: Drive Accountability and Show Progress

Execute with discipline. Stick to the plan and deliver.

Track and report results. Are activity levels improving? Are conversion rates moving? Show early signs of traction and momentum.

Make tough calls if needed. If someone is underperforming, uncoachable, or not bought in, deal with it. The worst thing you can do is carry dead weight into Q2.

Refine and adjust. Double down on what’s working. Iterate on what’s not.

For the Founder: Empower Ownership or Prepare to Start Over

You hired a Sales Director for a reason. Now do your job and help them win.

Be Clear on the Mandate

Set expectations before day one—or immediately if you haven’t already. What outcomes matter most in the first 90 days? What defines success? If you don’t define it, don’t expect them to hit it.

Give Them What They Need

Access to the right data. Tools. People. Calendar space. No friction. No guesswork. Open the doors and let them go to work.

Let Them Lead

You can’t hold them accountable and deny them authority. If you want results, give them the power to change processes, tools, and even team structure. Don’t tie their hands.

Protect Their Focus

Keep them out of unnecessary meetings. Shield them from noise and politics. Give them space to build.

Support, Don’t Hover

Schedule check-ins. Offer feedback. Share strategic context. But don’t micromanage. If you don’t trust them to lead, you made the wrong hire—or you’re the problem.

The 90-Day Verdict: How to Know They’re Owning It

Look for these signs:

• They have a clear plan and track against it.
• The team is more engaged—or there’s a real strategy to get there.
• Key metrics or sales processes are already improving.
• They’ve earned respect through action, not title.
• They flag issues, but more importantly, they solve them.

Own It, Or Someone Else Will

These first 90 days set the tone. They build momentum. Or they waste time.

Sales Director: You have one shot to take control and lead. Be decisive. Be bold. Show results.

Founder: You made the hire. Now create the environment for them to thrive. If you don’’t, the hire fails—and that’s on you.

Anything less from either side is a waste of time.

By Travis Janko, CEO of GSD Coach & Recruiting, helping SaaS founders build the top 5% of talent, FAST!