If you work as a salesperson and want to advance your career, you might struggle to know the type of sales job you should look for. Knowing the kind of sales jobs and what each entails can help you make an informed decision. For example, some sales jobs are more hands-on than others; as a sales manager, you oversee a team of salespeople who do most of the product selling.
Some sales jobs require you to travel, while others focus on acquiring or selling to local clients. Whether starting or looking to advance your skill set, you can take your career at SalesWorks Asia a notch higher by working with the best in the industry. The following is handy to guide your decision.
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Retail sales associate
The primary duties of a retail sales associate are to greet customers, offer assistance and answer questions about the products or merchandise for sale. They also identify the needs of each customer and recommend items based on that information. A retail sales associate also provides information about specific products, takes and processes payments and organizes the stock areas and selling floor.
Sometimes retail professionals assist with processing refunds, managing and ordering inventory and learning more about products to share information with customers. A good retail salesperson must have a professional attitude and maintain enthusiasm and sincerity when interacting with customers. They should also have the willingness to learn.
Lead development and generation specialist
A lead development and generation specialist develop leads that salespeople can follow up on and turn into customers. The roles of a lead generation and development specialist include communicating with people to establish potential customers, determining business needs and pain points, generating qualified leads and forwarding them to the sales team. The lead development and generation specialist is also tasked with maintaining accurate communication records with leads and clients.
Sales support representative
A sales support representative offers support to the sales team in various ways. Some of the roles of a sales support representative include entering data, processing orders, providing price quotes and invoices, and keeping records of communication with clients and potential customers. They also attend training to educate them on the company’s products and services. Other duties of a sales support representative include scheduling meetings and product demonstrations between sales representatives and clients and responding to requests for proposals.
Account manager
The primary role of account managers is to govern the relationship between a company and its customers. Account managers are expected to build and maintain long-term relationships with their assigned customers. Take necessary steps to ensure the company meets the customers’ needs and identify potential new customers. Other roles include forecasting and tracking client metrics, assisting with strategic business planning, managing client-related projects, communicating client needs to other departments and keeping records of interaction with clients. Often, an account manager is the main contact point for a customer.
Inside sales representative
You will work with existing customers for this sales job to assess their needs and upsell additional products or services. You will also have other duties, including finding new sales leads, ensuring a smooth sales lead, requesting and following up on client referrals and answering questions about specific products or services. An inside sales representative also schedules and attends in-person and phone-based meetings with clients. Depending on your organization, you may also be responsible for increasing client sales at a set level annually.
Business development manager
As a business development manager, you will work with the organization’s sales team to generate new sales leads and contacts and create business channels. Your roles include following up with potential clients, planning and preparing presentations, including sales pitches and organizing and attending in-person and virtual meetings. Business development managers also oversee the development of product details and marketing documents, write reports and offer client feedback to management and executive teams.
Outside sales representative
An outside sales representative conducts sales to customers through face-to-face or in-person interactions. Most of the time, these interactions are with a new client since most companies employ inside salespeople to work directly with current or existing customers.
The primary duties of outside sales representatives include providing product or service demonstrations and fostering relationships with potential clients. They also travel within their assigned areas, schedule and attend in-person meetings and maintain a record of sales leads and closed deals. As an outside sales representative, you will monitor competitors to understand customers’ needs and work with the marketing department to promote brand awareness.
If you are looking for a sales job, use this list to search for available roles and write your sales cover letter.
