What is sales?

Sales isn’t just about making customers aware of products or services that are for sale, it’s also about persuading customers to buy those products.

If you’re interested in working in sales, you’ll need to have an outgoing personality and excellent communication skills. You’ll need to learn the art of persuasion as well. Sales careers exist in a very wide range of industries, so if you want to work as a salesperson, you can select an industry to work in that you’re passionate about.

For instance, you could sale cars, clothing, medical supplies, mobile phones… The list goes on. Sales jobs often provide basic salaries and the ability to earn commission on top. Therefore, if you meet targets you have the potential to earn a high salary.

Areas in Sales

Selling products or services can be done in a variety of ways. Firstly, salespeople can sale to customers face-to-face. You could work on a shop floor, in a high street or on people’s doorsteps.

Another popular way of selling to people is over the telephone. You could work in an office for a small company or in a large call centre. A further way of selling products or services is to do so through television.

For instance, you could sale via a shopping channel. Lastly, you could sale via the internet. More sales positions are now available online than ever before.

Why study a sales course?

Careers in sales attract people from all types of educational backgrounds. Generally, you don’t need to have qualifications above GCSE level to enter many sales professions.

However, there is an increasing trend of employers preferring candidates with degrees. This is especially true for working in technical sales; in which you’ll often need to have a degree or an equivalent qualification in a related subject, such as IT, computing or engineering.

Professional qualifications in sales are also available. Once you’re established in a sales career, you have the opportunity of gaining industry-accredited qualifications by studying a course through the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management, the Chartered Institute of Marketing or the Managing and Marketing Sales Association.

The higher level of qualification you have and the more industry-specific qualification you have, the more you’ll be able to work at a higher position, such as a management role.

Career Outcomes from a Sales Course

With a relevant qualification under your belt, you can be more easily accepted for a variety of sales jobs.

Career outcomes include:

• Call Centre Manager: This role involves being responsible for the day-to-day running and management of a call centre.
• IT Sales Professional: This job typically involves working with commercial clients to find the right technological software and hardware for their business requirements.
• Medical Sales Representative: In this profession you would be a key link between healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical companies. You would sell products like prescription drugs and medical equipment to customers like hospital doctors and general practitioners.