All You Need to Know About a Career in Sales

Can you form relationships easily? Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit? If the answer is yes then a career in sales could be ideal for you. Nearly every company will have a sales department or dedicated salespeople who play a major role in the growth of a business. As a chance to improve your confidence and dominate the sales game, you could make a real name for yourself if you put the work in!

Starting your Sales career

The good news is, you don’t need previous experience or specific qualifications to begin a career in sales. If you do have relevant experience and skills then that’s great but equally, you can start your way from the bottom and work your way up as the sales industry welcomes all go-getters!

Here are some of the top skills that will help you to get started in sales:

● Confidence - being able to talk to clients and customers with conviction and make a great first impression on everyone.

● Resilience - working in sales is not always plain sailing so you must be able to persevere and use each knockback as a learning curve.

● Communication - when you’re trying to land a sale, you need to listen to each client’s needs and build a good rapport. Being an active listener and

Which pathways can you take?

As a salesperson, it’s your responsibility to find leads and convert them into sales. But, when it comes to the ‘sales’ themselves there are many different industries that you can venture into such as technology, SaaS, medicine and lots more. You can also specialise in a specific industry if that’s something that interests you.

Common roles in sales include:

● Sales representative

● Client services

● Head of sales

Why work in Sales?

Working in sales is a great way of learning about business as well as having greater control over your job and the direction that your career takes.

The top reasons for working in sales include:

● Opportunities to earn more money - once you’re established in sales you can capitalise on your skills and earn above and beyond your basic salary.

● Finger on the pulse -  working in sales will allow you to stay on top of industry changes and be the first to hear about new trends.

● Personal control - sales roles is very much an independent position within a larger team. Generally, this means you can have greater control over your time and how you run your own day.

Sales salary expectations

One difference between working in sales and other roles is that sales positions are often commission-based. This means that all or part of your income depends on your selling skills so the more successful you are the more you can earn.  However, if your entire salary is 100% commission-based you have to be on top of your game as there is no guarantee how much you will earn each month. Theoretically, when your work relies on commission the possibilities are limitless as you could earn a good few thousand pounds just from one big sale!

If you’re ready for a new challenge or your experience in sales has got you excited about starting your career, the UK Careers Fair is the place to be. Enter a network of some of the best businesses in the UK and find a sales position that suits you.

‍