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Job description: Sales Executive
As a sales executive, your role is to sell as many of your company's goods or services as possible. As such, you have a very important part to play in your company's success. Areas you're likely to be involved in include fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) such as stationery, consumer durables like washing machines, industrial supplies like heavy machinery, computer systems software and media and services such as insurance.
Your typical activities will depend on the sector you're in and how senior you are. However, they're likely to include:
- Maintaining and developing relationships with existing customers via meetings, telephone calls and emails.
- Visiting potential customers for new business.
- Making accurate, rapid cost calculations, and providing customers with quotations.
- Negotiating the terms of an agreement and closing sales.
- Gathering market and customer information and providing feedback on future buying trends.
- Representing your organisation at trade exhibitions, events and demonstrations.
- Negotiating variations in price, delivery and specifications with your company's managers.
- Advising on forthcoming product developments and discussing special promotions.
- Liaising with suppliers to check on the progress of existing orders.
- Checking quantities of goods on display and in stock.
- You may also be involved with identifying new markets and business opportunities.
- Recording sales and order information and sending copies to the sales office.
- Reviewing your own sales performance, aiming to meet or exceed targets.
Hours and Environment
Your working hours will vary according to your sector. Generally, though, they will be quite long, with the pressure to hit targets making late finishes a regular feature.
Your conditions can also vary widely according to the field you're in. You could well be working from home, transmitting orders, reports and sales analyses to your office. If you travel widely, especially overseas, you could be using your hotel room as a base. In view of all the travel you're likely to do, it's generally important to have a driving licence.
Skills and Interests
To be a sales executive you'll need to have:
- The ability and desire to sell.
- Excellent communication skills.
- Strong commercial awareness.
- A confident and determined approach.
- Resilience, and the ability to cope with rejection.
- A high degree of self-motivation and drive.
- The ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
- The capacity to flourish in a competitive environment.
- Fluency in a foreign language may also be helpful.
Entry
Increasingly, academic qualifications are becoming less important than attitude and ability, and there are no minimum requirements.
That said, for graduates subjects in most demand are business/management; journalism or media studies for advertising and media sales, modern European languages and computing, engineering or technology for technical sales.
Larger employers operate graduate training schemes, although usually you'll need a 2:1 or above. If you've been involved with university activities or have relevant work experience so much the better.
You may well find it an advantage to have work-based qualifications, such as NVQs in sales or qualifications from professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management (ISMM) and the Managing and Marketing Sales Association (MAMSA).
Training
Usually, you'll be taking training in-house. Many companies offer new entrants a short induction course that covers products and sales administration. Training will also include selling techniques, such as how to sell, how to deal with potential objections and how to close sales.
After induction, you'll generally spend time in training, without any pressure to meet targets. You'll shadow an experienced representative and gradually take over their sales calls. You'll then be expected to get up to speed quickly and meet individual targets.
You may undertake further training and development to support your career development. You should aim to complete the programme offered by the Institute of Sales & Marketing Management (ISMM), which will enhance your career and salary prospects. ISMM qualifications are suitable whether you're about to embark on a new career or are an experienced professional.
You could also work towards NVQ levels 3 and 4 in Sales, as well as qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and the Managing and Marketing Sales Association (MAMSA). See the appropriate websites for more details.
Although not imperative, professional qualifications can definitely help with your career development. Some senior sales professionals undertake postgraduate study in areas such as sales management, or take an MBA.
Opportunities
After a period as a successful sales executive, you could expect to be promoted to handle larger and more prestigious accounts.
Most companies have a promotion structure you could progress through, moving from sales executive to sales manager, area or regional sales manager and eventually sales director. Promotion is based on results, and rapid progress is a real possibility in sales. If you specialise in an area such as vehicle sales, you could become manager of a dealership.
You could move out of sales and into training and education or recruitment. You could move into related career areas, such as advertising, marketing and public relations (PR). It's also common to move companies for promotion or a higher salary.
In addition, it's possible to set up your own company on the back of your sales skills.
Annual Income
Figures are intended as a guideline only.
- Starting salaries vary but will be in the range of £17,000 to £35,000.
- With three to five years' experience, you could earn £22,000 - £43,000.
- At senior levels, you could earn £50,000 - £100,000 and more.
Salaries are usually based on success in meeting sales targets, and jobs may be advertised as OTE, which means 'on target earnings'.
Most companies offer a basic salary with a bonus or commission scheme, which can vary widely depending on experience and the industry or market sector. A car or petrol allowance and expenses are usually included in the salary package.
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