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LogoutAs we move further in understanding the career prospects in sales, we will focus more on the different sales jobs that one can apply for at the entry level. While in a previous article we discussed the career journey, in this article we will discuss the sales job in different roles and functions.
Inside Sales: Also referred to as remote or virtual sales, this job involves making sales from inside the office i.e., indirectly connecting with client via mail, phone, or internet. This job has come more into focus due to a strong surge in internet connectivity across the most remote sections of society and the Covid-19 pandemic. The job. It requires a high- touch sales and highly trained reps as it’s prevalent largely in B2B landscape which involves high-ticket items. They work within a team with direct supervision and involve more cold calling.
Outside Sales: Referred to as traditional sales, is the face-to-face interaction between the sales representative and the customer. It’s a field job in which prospective customers are met to establish relations and maintain old ones with existing customers. It’s more flexible than inside sales due to an absence of ‘formalized schedule’ but costlier and time-taking to meet customer’s schedule. This is generally preferred when the products are complex or expensive. In terms of earning, it earns 12-18% more than inside sales. It offers a more qualitative interaction.
Sales support Function: it focuses on more supporting sales representatives by performing various ancillary functions like documentation, account creation and management of customers, generating sales report, maintaining customer queries, and directing it relevant sales rep. They also help the sales reps in closing deals through email campaigns, CRM, or maintaining sales web pages. Thus, they perform a huge role in significantly lowering administration time and accelerating sales convert.
Lead Generation: is the role of attracting and converting potential leads. Their main role is to initiate customer interest in services through networking. Today, technology plays a vital role in deciphering data and determining potential sales areas/leads, hence a good grasp on analytics helps in building awareness, and close deals. A secondary role played via them is client servicing, in which they address customer queries on internet through getting in touch with them.
Account Managers: they focus on existing clients by ensuring that all their needs are met. Since they are responsible for managing a portfolio of accounts, they need to keep in constant touch with their customers to ensure strong relations and to capture new solutions based on network analysis. They maintain and monitor sales tracks and suggest methods to improve the sales performance. A good communication and negotiation skill is a must to ensure a customer-centric service.
Consultative Selling: unlike other sales’ role, this role is hyper focussed on the customer by prioritizing their needs and then focussing on the sale of a product/service. This a specialized and professional role, where the consultant is thoroughly knowledgeable of the product but follows a streamlined process to give the most effective and differentiated solutions to the customer. It helps build stronger relations between a customer and seller due to creation of value and trust amongst the customers.
Check out the previous stories on:
[Career Prospects in Sales - Why Sales?]
[Career Prospects in Sales - Career Path]