The Sales Sector

Sales – The Role

Sales is a field that involves turning potential sales prospects into loyal customers who will come back to buy your products and services time and time again. Jobs in the sales sector are normally very high pressure and involve long working hours. In most roles you will have to meet sales quotas, year in, year out. Sales itself is more about personality than anything else. Those who have the right temperament and who can adapt their approach when necessary have the potential to do very well in this field

Salespeople are needed in almost every trade and industry. The good news is that salespeople today are walking into better jobs than ever before – with higher pay and with better opportunities for career advancement. The bad news though is that today’s sales markets are even more competitive than ever too. Buyers are now more informed and more savvy about their choices, and in light of this, employers are even more discerning about who they hire. A sales interview today will almost certainly include some challenging competency and behavioural based questions, so make sure you study the sales examples in the S.t.a.r Interview database well

To do well in a sales interview, you’ll need to convince the interviewer that this is a job you really want to do. Remember that sales is a role that requires a lot of tenacity. You will constantly suffer knockbacks and refusals on a daily basis. The interviewer knows this and that is why an important part of winning the interviewer over is convincing them that you truly have a passion for sales and aren’t just trying to grab the first job that comes along. To this end, be specific about why you want the job. Most employers want someone who is 100% focused on selling. Make sure your C.V reflects this

When going for a sales role another important step is to develop your own personal sales philosophy. For example. ‘I believe that every time I make a sale, I make the world a happier place’. Employers really are looking for people who have a desire for sales. Having a personal mission statement/ philosophy will prove to the employer that you are both serious and experienced in this field

A great way to approach an interview for a sales job is to think of it in the same way as selling a product to a customer. Only in this instance, the product your selling is yourself! In sales, a lot of times an employer will take how well you sell yourself during the interview as an indication of how well suited to sales you really are. If you’ve got no experience, or only limited experience, in the sales sector, it’s in your best interests to learn as much as you can about the role itself. An experienced interviewer will usually be able to tell who has been in the sales profession over somebody who hasn’t. If you’re lacking in experience, make up for this with enthusiasm and a can-do attitude. Remember that working in sales is hard work. Those who make the best commissions and salaries are the ones willing to put in the most effort to get to the top. While it’s true employers prefer candidates with experience, even if you have no experience whatsoever, in a sales interview you can still win the interviewer over with a confident demeanour and an outgoing attitude. Make sure you emphasise that you are very trainable and willing to learn, and this will help your chances a lot

Don’t show up to a sales interview expecting to land the role by being dull and boring. Sales is all about being outgoing and aggressively pursuing every opportunity available!
If you have no prior experience in sales, you’ll need to make the most of your transferrable skills, and with the right attitude, these can count for a lot! What are your most useful personal traits? Are you confident? Can you articulate yourself well? Are you bi-lingual? Do you have charisma? Strong active listening skills? Persistence? Self-motivation (Someone who is considered a self-starter?) These are all some of the most useful traits of a sales professional…

For some sales roles, especially for sales roles in call or contact center work, as part of the interview process some larger employers may require you to attend an assessment center, or undertake role-play exercises in order to gauge your abilities, so be ready for this…

Other sections of Interview Professional may also have information relevant to the sales field depending on what industry you are applying in:
Please see the Retail and Call Center sections for further information on sales  

What is a pyramid scheme?

A pyramid scheme is an unsustainable business plan that people are sometimes encouraged to join. These people are considered ‘investors’ in the scheme, and are promised a profit if more people invest in the scheme. The people being scammed then are not merely investors, but actual participant’s too…as it becomes their task to go out and recruit more people to join the scheme. Usually only the people at the very top are the ones that know this is a scam

Upon recruiting a certain number of people, an ‘investor’ will usually receive a small profit. Each of the people they in turn recruit is required to go out and recruit more people, each of whom ‘invests’ in the scheme. The problem with pyramid schemes is that there is little meaningful product or service being produced. That means there is no extra money to pay the people who are already invested in the scheme. Most of the money being ‘invested’ goes to pay off the current tier of recruiters, and those at the top levels of the scheme who got in first. In order to keep generating money, more and more people are required as ‘investors’, who in turn put more money into the scheme. The scheme breaks down once it becomes impossible to recruit the number of people needed to pay the previous tier of recruiter/ investors. Hence why it is referred to as a ‘pyramid’ scheme, because at each level of people who join, the next tier of people recruited by that level increases exponentially. The person or persons who started the scheme, and a few others who got in at the beginning will make a significant profit, while everybody else involved will lose most or all of the money they paid to enter into the scheme

Sales Terminologies

Cold prospects – Are businesses or persons that are qualified but have little or no awareness of your company

Warm prospects – These are businesses and persons with whom you’ve had previous contact with but need more work before you can consider them ready to sell to

Hot prospects – This is a person or business that is interested in what you’re selling and meets your criteria of being a viable candidate to sell to

Cross-selling – The practice of selling an additional product or service to a customer that is usually very similar or somewhat related to the one they are/ or have purchased

Upselling – The practice of selling an upgrade, add-on, or a more expensive alternative version of a product

Lead generation – The practice of generating interest or inquiry into a business’s products or services, for the purpose of creating sales opportunities

Qualifying – The process of determining the worth and viability of a given sales lead that if satisfied would then ‘qualify’ the lead as a prospect (potential customer) worth your time trying to sell to

Sales lead/ prospect – A potential customer that has been identified as a source your business can sell to

Sales outsourcing – Is a method whereby a company outsources its work by hiring employees who are not paid any base salary or benefits and whose only compensation is based on commission from the sales they make

Sales quote – Estimate given by a business to a prospective buyer which gives them a reasonable idea of the costs involved

Sale territory – Geographical area where a salesperson, franchisee, distributor, or agent operates