What does an Outside Sales Representative do?
An Outside Sales Representative is responsible for selling the products or services offered by the company employing them. An Outside Sales Representative often works within a specified part of the country, such as a particular county or city. They sell products or services to existing customers, establish new leads and create a wider customer base within their sales area.
An Outside Sales Representative will have sales, turnover and profit targets to meet. In order to hit their targets, the Outside Sales Representative arranges in-person client meetings. The clients can be individuals, organisations or businesses. An Outside Sales Representative will travel extensively in order to make sales consistently.
Outside Sales Representative skills and qualifications
An Outside Sales Representative needs excellent sales and marketing skills. Most importantly they should be confident, persevering and have excellent interpersonal skills. They also need to be creative with their business development, while also being goal-orientated and target-driven. A successful Outside Sales Representative will have various prerequisite skills and qualifications that generally include:
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Excellent knowledge of the product or service they are selling
- Ability and confidence to upsell customers and clients
- Proficiency with sales software, particularly CRM (customer relationship management) systems
- Excellent customer service and client-care skills
- Ability to identify emerging markets and new sales opportunities
- Ability to analyse sales data and prepare sales reports
- Self-motivated and able to work independently
Outside Sales Representative experience requirements
An Outside Sales Representative should have at least four years of experience working in previous sales roles and should be able to demonstrate their success, in meeting targets and making sales in previous jobs. Experience cold calling, generating leads and leading client meetings is also essential. An Outside Sales Representative should have experience working independently, generating reports and building long-lasting client relationships.
Outside Sales Representative education and training requirements
An Outside Sales Representative should have strong GCSE results in Maths and English. A-levels, particularly if they are in business-related subjects. This will demonstrate that the candidate has a strong academic background and the relevant business acumen.
A university degree isn’t absolutely necessary to be successful in the role. Experience and interpersonal skills are often just as important as further education, particularly if the candidate can demonstrate that they are target-driven and have generated leads and sales in previous roles. A university degree in business or marketing can be useful for career progression, however.
Outside Sales Representative salary expectations
According to Indeed Salaries, the average salary for an Outside Sales Representative is £28,718 per year. Salary may be dependent on experience, location and company.
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