Sales Representative Career Guide

The main job of a sales representative is to sell, but to do so, their daily routine is filled with additional tasks:

• Sales representatives analyze prospects in a database and implement a targeting strategy
• They identify the most interesting profiles to contact, often decision-makers, and ensure that the contact list is kept up to date
• Depending on the product or service they are promoting, they develop a sales pitch that they use when contacting prospects
• Depending on their sector of activity, they may travel, sometimes very often, to solicit prospects
• They advise customers and make proposals tailored to each customer
• When a qualified prospect is about to make a purchase, they negotiate if necessary to define the terms of the sale
• Unlike a traditional salesperson, their role goes further and they ensure that the order is processed by carrying out after-sales follow-up

They regularly produce reports and share performance reports with the sales director or directly with senior management

As a freelancer or employee

A sales representative can choose to work as an employee within a company or as a freelancer.

• Within a company, they work as part of the sales team;
• As a freelancer, they work on behalf of a personal client portfolio, made up of companies that call on them to increase their turnover.

In the office or in the field

The sales representative profession has always been one of the sales jobs that requires a lot of travel to meet with prospects. However, with digitalisation and the specificities of certain sectors, the profession has become more sedentary overall.

A sales representative may devote their efforts to telephone prospecting and online sales activities. It all depends on the company they work for.

In practical terms, the roles of sales representative and technical sales representative are the same, except that the latter provides technical expertise to customers.

This position is specific to complex professional sectors, often in B2B, where, in order to close a sale, it is necessary to present the technical aspects of a proposed solution in detail.

This engineer masters the technical aspects of a product or service and combines this knowledge with appropriate action plans. As the name suggests, they are both an engineer and a salesperson, with a vision focused on the product or service.

Within a company, a sales representative can climb the ladder and become a sales manager, then a sales director. Their role then takes on a strong managerial and strategic dimension.

Senior profiles can also set up their own business by becoming self-employed, either on a personal basis or by launching a specialized organisation. In the latter case, they often hire sales agents in order to manage a larger client portfolio.