Sales Representative as a Career
Description of the Job
Sales representatives are the principal point of contact between a business and its customers. Sales reps ensure current customers have the right products and services, identify new markets and customer leads, and pitch prospective customers. In many ways the face of the company, sales representatives may do everything from answering phones to monitoring the competition, all while maintaining good customer relations and pursuing new sales opportunities.
Fast Facts
- Number of hours per week40-50 hours
- Average starting pay$50k Nationally, $63k in the Bay Area
- Amount of travel requiredMay be required, depends on project or company
Roles & Responsibilities
- Serve customers by selling products and meeting customer needs.
- Service existing accounts, obtains orders, and establishes new accounts by planning and organizing daily work schedules to call on existing or potential sales outlets and other trade factors.
- Focus sales efforts by studying existing and potential volume of dealers.
- Submit orders by referring to price lists and product literature.
- Keep management informed by submitting activity and results reports, such as daily call reports, weekly work plans, and monthly and annual territory analyses.
- Monitor competition by gathering current marketplace information on pricing, products, new products, delivery schedules, and merchandising techniques.
- Recommend changes in products, service, and policy by evaluating results and competitive developments.
- Resolve customer complaints by investigating problems, developing solutions, preparing reports, and making recommendations to management.
- Contribute to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed.
Skills Needed
- Customer service: Good communication skills with clients.
- Meeting sales goals: This job is often based solely on performance. Being comfortable and competent at meeting sales goals will further the company’s business, as well as your own career within the company.
- Closing skills: Recruiting customers to expand company’s customer base.
- Territory management: Some sales representatives are responsible for managing entire continents, so being able to manage your territory is crucial to this job.
- Negotiation: Help you build better relationships. Deliver lasting, quality solutions.
- Presentation/pitching skills: A sales representative will be tasked with pitching many businesses and customers.
- Motivation: A motivated sales representative will tend to be more effective.
Steps to Enter The Field
- Most sales representative jobs require a bachelor’s degree, but there may be exceptions depending on the company or level. Common degrees are marketing, other business-related fields, and communications
- Getting campus ambassador jobs/internships in college can be a great starting point, since many of the interpersonal skills transfer
- Any sales-related positions are helpful to build a resume and increase the chances of landing a role
- Internships are helpful experiences when it comes to recruitment out of college
Landscape of the Field & Companies in the Field
- Companies all over the world hire sales representatives. Practically every corporate company has sales representatives within their sales department. It is a vital part of a company’s survival, as their role is to maintain customer relationships as well as to acquire these clients.
- When looking for sales representative positions, people should consider which industries interest them and look for jobs in those industries
External Resources to Learn More & Develop Skills
- Sales Hacker: a compiled list of advice and training programs that help future want-to-be or current sales representatives develop their skills and learn more regarding the field. This link takes you to a list with 40 different training programs for sales professionals
- Top Blogs for Salespeople: includes a list of 15+ top sales blogs
- Hubspot’s course catalog: Includes a plethora of free courses relating to marketing and selling
Related Careers
- Advertising, Promotions, Marketing Consulting, Public Relations, Marketing Development Representative, Account Executive
Informational Interviews
Eshaan Kaul
Company Name: Verkada
Title: Marketing Development Team Lead
Years of Experience: 1
Biography
At the time of the recording, Eshaan Kaul was a Marketing Development Representative for Verkada, but since then he was promoted to the MDR Team Lead. Eshaan graduated from Santa Clara University in 2021 with a degree in Finance. In college, Eshaan held many internships, including as an Investment Banking Summer Analyst at DCA Partners, an International Tax and Finance Summer Analyst at Intel, and a Sales Development Representative at GoSite. He also was the President and Founder of the Santa Clara Venture Capital Association and the Podcast Founder and Host of Santa Clara Ventures.