Jobs: Sales

Opportunities to further your career within the Sales industry

The demand for sales professional within the digital economy has continued to increase year-on-year, with more organisations than ever acutely aware of the need to attract and retain the people who will drive and secure their revenue.

Recent Changes

Customers have become more discerning than ever. They want a sales professional who will consult, guide and build a deep understanding of their needs to ensure the right solution is delivered on.

• Future Prospects

  The size of the organisation will often determine on the promotion landscape for you. Larger organisations may have multiple layers within the sales structure and separate out functions as more specialised areas for example, lead generation, inside sales,
  pre-sales, sales, account management, and so on. In smaller organisations, there may be less layers of hierarchy and less separation of duties. One is not better than the other as in a smaller organisation you are likely to be exposed to a wider range of skills, which allows you to grow within your role and provide you with more skills to take to your next role. Each role within sales will require different skills and competencies, and as you build your career, you may find yourself leaning towards one aspect more than another.

  As we all appreciate the best salesperson doesn’t necessarily make the best sales manager, it is important you consider all the options to grow your career, it doesn’t have to be linear.

• Salt’s advice for getting a job in the Sales industry

  Employers’ Requirements

  Employers usually have a high expectation of the salespeople in their company. Let’s face it, this team is the key to any organisation achieving their revenue objectives.

  Sales professionals will not only need to maintain relationships with current customers but also establish new ones. As such, demonstrating an understanding of your prospective clients’ businesses, and being able to identify any gaps in their processes to which your company can provide the solution, is a critical way to drive revenue.

  Members of a company’s sales team will also negotiate and agree on terms and conditions with clients, consistently close sales and advise on future product or market developments. Furthermore, sales experts are expected to create detailed proposal documents, and constantly gather information on their customers and the wider marketplace.

  CV Requirements

  For any sales job, you can expect to have to demonstrate core skills such as great written and oral communication skills, the ability to identify and secure opportunities, negotiation, resilience, commercial acumen, and the ability to build sustainable relationships.

  A proven track record of sales over the past few years is also crucial, as the job market rewards those who can demonstrate consistency in, or improvement on, a business’ previous performance. It is important you can articulate and quantify your achievements and performance. Be mindful that constant movement in your CV is not seen as a positive within sales as every client knows it takes time to build trusting relationships with your clients.

  Interview Preparation

  Any good interview will present you with a range of competency-based questions to ensure you can articulate examples of your past experience and current performance.

  As a sales professional, how you engage and conduct yourself in the interview is critical. This is the clients view of how you will represent their brand and it is true that first impressions do count.

  Questions you may be asked include:

  1) What is your least favourite part of the sales process and why?
  2) Can you give me an example in the last 3-6 months of an opportunity you have secured and how you identified this in the market?
  3) Can you talk me through the most complex sales solution you have had to sell?
  4) Can you walk me through a presentation that didn’t go well, what happened and what were your key learnings?
  5) How would former clients describe you?
  6) How do you monitor the external business environment to benefit you in your role?

  Always take the time to prepare for interviews, beyond doing the company research and researching those who will interview you. Make sure you understand the organisations competitor landscape. If it is a new industry or market for you, take the time to identify your transferrable skills or examples to help the interviewer understand why you will be successful.

  Educational Requirements

  Generally speaking, hiring managers consider skills and personality (e.g. excellent communications skills, commercial awareness) to be more important than academic qualifications when it comes to starting off in sales. However if you are entering an organisation via a graduate programme this may be different. Your aim will be to identify the relevance and transferrable experience that will help you in whatever path you take.