Understanding Sales Careers To Find Your Perfect Sales Job

By Author: Finlay Humphreys
Total Articles: 12
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Outbound Sales Careers

Outbound telesales is sometimes known as telemarketing. Sales careers in outbound telesales will consist of speaking directly to the consumer to sell products or services. Your phone call is likely to be the customer’s first exposure to the product, so you need strong persuasive sales skills. You may or may not have to work from a script, and you will have a persistent attitude and a determination to succeed which remains even when faced with a number of prior rejections. Personality is more important that qualifications in outbound sales careers. These sales people are likely to work in-house at a large company, or from a call centre, and a sales record is likely to be monitored and rewarded.

Inbound Telesales Careers

Inbound telesales involves a similar setup to outbound sales, but rather than cold calling you will be answering the phone and then selling instead. Generally, because of this, the people you speak to are going to be friendlier and more open to the idea of a sale. The minimum requirement when applying for sales vacancies in the inbound field is the same ...
... as outbound; a friendly, polite and persuasive personality, good phone speaking skills and the ability to type and talk at the same time.

Financial Sales Careers

Financial sales people have a more varied role than telesales people. The job is completely money-motivated and requires a financial and business conscious mind, but financial sales careers involve a balance of cold calling, presentations, networking and referrals to gain clients. Your role will involve helping individuals and organisations purchase shares, bonds, mutual funds and other financial products.

Financial sales vacancies are very competitive, but sales people are generously rewarded with success. Generally you will need a Bachelor’s degree and a background in business, accounting or marketing, preferably with experience in these fields.

IT, Media, Retail and Commercial Sales Careers

If you are looking to move into a sales career from a background in IT, media or commerce then it makes sense to work in your specialised area. IT, media and commercial sales people work on a B2B basis, whereas retail sales careers involve selling in person in stores. Retail sales people do not require experience, and although sales vacancies are generally competitive, there tend to be lots of them available, and you often do not need any experience.

IT sales people must have a strong understanding of technological developments and computing, software engineering, systems or electronics, and preferably experience or a background in one of these fields. As a highly technical sales role you need to fully understand the product and the marketplace. Media sales however, involves selling advertising space for media, and is much less specialised. It is a fast paced and driven sales environment, and may require a degree or a background in advertising or media, although often this is not essential.

Commercial sales people sell products or services required by businesses, whether they are communications, electronics, printers, copiers, office supplies or specialist equipment. This may be done by cold calling, networking or presentations, and you should be able to demonstrate an industry knowledge for the field.