Director of Sales
Fortune International | Job Description
Reports to: Vice President of Sales
FLSA Status: Exempt
Position SummaryFortune International is seeking a hands-on Director of Sales to develop and lead a high-performing sales team within our seafood, meat, poultry, and specialty food distribution business.
The primary focus of this role is strengthening the skills, confidence, and effectiveness of our sales consultants through field coaching, structured training, and consistent accountability. The Director of Sales will help the team build customer relationships, identify opportunities, communicate product value, and convert those opportunities into profitable growth.
Working closely with the Vice President of Sales, this leader will translate market objectives into individual development plans and measurable sales results while promoting teamwork and exceptional customer service.
Key ResponsibilitiesSales Team Coaching and Development- Conduct regular field visits and joint customer calls to observe selling skills, provide actionable feedback, and reinforce effective sales behaviors.
- Lead weekly one-on-one meetings focused on skill development, account strategy, prospect progress, and performance against goals.
- Create individual development plans that address each consultant’s strengths, skill gaps, and career goals.
- Train consultants in prospecting, discovery, product presentations, objection handling, negotiation, closing, and follow-through.
- Build the team’s ability to sell on quality, consistency, service, and customer value.
- Partner with buyers, product specialists, and suppliers to strengthen knowledge of seafood, meat, poultry, and specialty foods, including product applications, seasonality, sourcing, and substitutions.
- Develop a structured onboarding process with clear training milestones and expectations for new sales consultants.
- Foster a culture of continuous learning, shared best practices, and personal accountability.
- Coach consultants to build account plans that increase product penetration, order frequency, and customer retention.
- Help the team identify gaps in customer menus and purchasing patterns and recommend relevant products across categories.
- Establish a consistent process for recovering declining accounts, including identifying root causes, defining next steps, and tracking results.
- Guide prospecting efforts toward customers that align with the company’s product strengths, service capabilities, and geographic coverage.
- Participate in key customer meetings to support the consultant’s development and advance opportunities.
- Support proposals, product trials, and RFP responses in partnership with internal teams.
- Train consultants to explain pricing, communicate cost increases, and manage customer objections confidently.
- Ensure consistent use of pricing tools and timely weekly price adjustments.
- Coach consultants on how product mix, order size, and delivery frequency affect, and account profitability.
- Help the team grow revenue while achieving margin goals and service expectations.
- Translate market revenue and profitability goals into clear individual targets and weekly priorities.
- Use sales reports to identify coaching needs and opportunities in new business, declining accounts, category growth, and customer profitability.
- Maintain disciplined prospect pipeline reviews, with clear ownership, next steps, and realistic sales forecasts.
- Evaluate both business results and the selling behaviors that drive sustainable performance.
- Recognize strong performance and address gaps through timely feedback, targeted coaching, and documented improvement plans.
- Reinforce adoption of CRM, reporting, pricing, and digital ordering tools to improve customer engagement and sales productivity.
- Partner with purchasing, operations, transportation, customer service, and credit teams to deliver a consistent customer experience.
- Help consultants understand product availability, lead times, special-order requirements, and delivery capabilities so they set accurate customer expectations.
- Share customer feedback, competitive insights, and emerging product needs with internal teams.
- Recruit, select, and retain sales talent that strengthens the team’s capabilities and supports market growth.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
- Five to seven years of progressive sales experience, including experience managing and developing a sales team.
- Experience in seafood, meat, poultry, specialty foods, or foodservice distribution strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated success improving sales performance through coaching, training, and individual development.
- Strong understanding of restaurant, hospitality, and foodservice purchasing needs.
- Ability to translate product knowledge into customer-focused selling strategies.
- Strong communication, presentation, relationship-building, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to interpret sales and profitability data and turn findings into practical coaching actions.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office and experience using CRM, sales reporting, and pricing tools.
- Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
- Ability to travel within the market for customer visits, field coaching, and team development.
- Demonstrated improvement in sales consultant skills and productivity.
- Successful onboarding and development of new sales talent.
- Achievement of revenue and gross profit goals.
- Growth in new customers and sales within existing accounts.
- Improved customer retention and recovery of declining business.
- Consistent execution of sales processes and adoption of company tools.
Fortune Fish & Gourmet is an equal opportunity employer.
Our Mission is to elevate meals and lives by uniting unmatched product quality and selection with responsible sourcing, faithful stewardship, and unparalleled commitment to our customers’ and team members’ success.
Our Vision is a world in which we can all:
Do good. Be great. Scale excellence.
Skills Required
- Five to seven years of progressive sales experience, including experience managing and developing a sales team.
- Experience in seafood, meat, poultry, specialty foods, or foodservice distribution.
- Demonstrated success improving sales performance through coaching, training, and individual development.
- Strong understanding of restaurant, hospitality, and foodservice purchasing needs.
- Ability to translate product knowledge into customer-focused selling strategies.
- Strong communication, presentation, relationship-building, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to interpret sales and profitability data and turn findings into practical coaching actions.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office and experience using CRM, sales reporting, and pricing tools.
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
- Ability to travel within the market for customer visits, field coaching, and team development.
What We Do
D’Artagnan is the nation’s premier specialty food distributor and leading purveyor of foie gras, game meat, organic poultry, pâtés, sausages and smoked delicacies in the nation. Established in 1985, D’Artagnan has been at the forefront of the farm-to-table movement and has a strong reputation with four-star restaurants which have D’Artagnan products on their menus. D’Artagnan is growing rapidly. Our philosophy is simple. Before such buzz words existed, we were committed to free-range, natural production and sustainable, humane farming practices. We partner only with small farms and ranches that have strict standards, never use antibiotics or hormones, and sign affidavits to that effect. We support these methods so that we can offer you the best-tasting, conscientiously-raised meat possible. We are passionate about quality from the farm to your fork, which is why our products hold pride of place in professional and home kitchens alike. For our smoked, cured and cooked items, we rely on natural ingredients and traditional recipes and techniques to provide the best flavor and health benefits. We are dedicated to quality in all we do, from our careful sourcing in the field to our kitchen production, to provide you the very best products money can buy. We are on a mission to educate consumers about the importance of understanding and appreciating how food is raised and harvested. We seek employees who are passionate about food -- a true foodie with a burning entrepreneur and team spirit to join our growing company.
