A sales representative sells services or products for a company.

Sales representative jobs often means wearing many hats. You will be tasked with making a good first impression on new customers and, hopefully, support the client all the way to a purchase and beyond.

The path to success includes pinpointing the best products for potential buyers and building and maintaining good relationships with clients. This type of position is competitive and performance dependent. How well you sell often affects how much you earn. Sometimes, the thrill of grabbing your career by the reigns is part of the appeal!

Just Starting Out

Sales representative jobs can come in different flavors. Inside salespersons often sell from their office or home space. Your entry-level position will likely come with plenty of contact with customers. Therefore, it will also involve sales order entry and other administrative tasks as well.

Junior members of a sale team can expect more senior members to provide constant feedback – and that’s a good thing! As you gain more experience as a salesperson, you may be entrusted with increased responsibilities, like becoming a field sales representative.

These outside sales representative jobs involve meeting with interested parties at trade shows and conferences. The goal is to encourage potential customers to make a purchase and improve your network.

Eventually, sales leaders can climb the corporate business ladder when sales goals are regularly achieved. Regional sales representative positions may oversee entire states with sales teams under their oversight.

ALSO READ: HOW TO INTERVIEW SALESPEOPLE

What To Look For In Sales Representative Jobs

A good sales rep job will have clear-cut sales goals established ahead of time. Just as communication is a key part of a sales job, companies should also be ready to communicate with their customer experience staff like the sales team.

Employers that act responsibly can retain qualified applicants after they are hired. This includes having a company culture where balance offers you the best success in work and home life. While many may want to disregard this view, it will lead to better overall mental and emotional health and improved performance.

Finding a company that is an equal-opportunity employer is a must. Most corporations are required to actively avoid discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic.

You can embrace a job where you feel safe and valued as an employee. Appropriate training is a necessity for any new job and sales activities are no different.

While it will take you time to build a track record of success, as a real marketing star you should be given the opportunity to become a sales subject matter expert, learning all there is to know about your sales field.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

While it might seem like an obvious answer, the main duty of a sales representative is to sell, sell, sell. This is not always a simple process.

It can be a full-time job to identify potential clients, discover their needs, and develop the ability to pitch the products or services that will benefit them – all while making sure the experience is a positive one.

Negotiation skills and persuasive speaking ability will help you close deals and let you join the ranks of top sales reps. Sometimes, you must make cold calls to find prospective customers and other times you may have warm leads on individuals who have already expressed an interest in your business services.

Since the sales industry is continually changing, it makes sense that a good sales representative will need to work to stay up to date too. Therefore, you need to understand industry trends in your related field and what small businesses or individuals are seeking to purchase.

Qualifications and Requirements

Some sales representative positions may not require a degree beyond a high school diploma.

A bachelor’s degree in marketing or business may improve your odds of getting hired and can provide an important understanding of consumer behavior, communication, and company branding.

Being numbers oriented is a good quality for sales jobs. Meanwhile, the ability to timely process sales orders and a keen attention to detail ensure that buyers receive the prompt attention they expect.

Often a minimum weekly meeting is a requirement for sales teams to ensure that sales quotas are being reached.

Benefits and Compensation

Since many sales jobs are tied to performance, commission payments are an important factor in any position you seek. Previous experience can help to increase the base salary offer.

Many companies also offer a competitive benefits package to entice top sellers. A comprehensive traditional benefits package includes:

• Medical insurance
• Dental and vision benefits
• Disability insurance
• Tuition reimbursement
• Paid parental leave
• Leave of absence programs

There are other soft perks that won’t be included on any job alert notification or advertisement you see.

It can be truly rewarding to join a cohesive team that is ready to support the work-life balance.

You can also certainly find a lucrative career while making inbound sales and striving to improve the consumer experience.

Sales Representative Jobs 1

How To Land a Sales Representative Job

While this job market can be challenging, there are things that you can do to land an offer. Furthermore, the smart applicant is the early applicant. There’s no room for procrastination here!

Expect to spend a little of your own time to boost your chances of getting hired. In addition, one way to do this is by signing up for job alerts on a reputable hiring site. With the latest job alert pinging your device, you can respond quickly when new sales representative jobs become available.

Doing footwork beforehand to select the job type desired (for example, preferably inside sales or commission-only positions) will give you focus on the job hunt.

Whether you are looking to break into the sales industry with an entry-level position or have years of previous experience, you can find the sales job type you are seeking.