Considering a Career Change to Sales? Part 2
Are you considering switching careers to sales but are new to the field? This is an exciting job switch and can be a significant life change. As you grow professionally and discover your sales-related skills, you might work in many different roles. Below are five sales positions you will likely encounter when looking at job postings. Over the next six blog posts, we will feature each of these roles in more detail to help you determine your best fit!
1) Business Development Representative
A Business Development Representative is typically a person’s first sales role. Usually, a Business Development Representative, or BDR, works to expand their company’s customer base by generating new business opportunities with prospects through a prospecting system. Forget the old stereotype of nagging someone to buy something they’re not interested in…this position is all about consulting, customer relations, and engaging people who see potential value in your product! Additionally, BDRs book Needs Assessment meetings for these prospects and other sales team members.
2) Sales Development Representative
Like a Business Development Representative, SDR is oftentimes a person’s first sales role. Sometimes, the terms SDR and BDR are used interchangeably; however, sometimes they can be different roles entirely. ActiveCampaign notes, “In some larger sales organizations, SDRs may work alongside business development representatives (BDRs). BDRs usually focus on outbound lead generation where SDRs focus on inbound leads.” You’ll gain many skills in an SDR role, such as resilience and discernment.
3) Account Executive
From a BDR position, you might get promoted to an Account Executive role. Once a BDR has hunted for and qualified some prospects, an Account Executive will establish relationships with the prospects. An Account Executive takes an existing prospect from the sales funnel and works on turning them into a customer.
4) Account Manager
An Account Manager maintains relationships with existing clients, ensuring the clients are satisfied and updated. Account Managers are expected to provide excellent customer service to clients, sometimes cross-selling or upselling with other products or services. They coordinate and liaise from clients to executives. Communication and organizational skills are essential here!
5) Sales Director
A Sales Director is one of the highest-level roles in sales. This position oversees all operations – sometimes for a particular region, sometimes for an entire organization. Though everyone in sales should stay on top of market trends, this is especially important for Sales Directors as they can make major decisions for the company. Therefore, they need prime organizational abilities, people skills, and the ability to listen to and understand many different perspectives.
6) Technical Sales Representative
A Technology Sales Representative specializes in the company’s products and works heavily in customer service. This person recommends products based on the customer’s needs and often demos them to the customer. In this role, you’ll need to have a thorough understanding of the products or services, knowing their worth to customers. You’ll also need to be excited about what you’re selling and truly believe in the product! While this role often requires experience and/or technical training, you generally don’t need to have a background in technology to succeed.
You might consider working in sales for a variety of reasons. There are many perks, including options to work remotely (or part-time in the office, part-time at home), virtually unlimited growth potential, and opportunities to work for stable corporations that will likely thrive. Keep these roles in mind as you search for roles. And stay tuned for our upcoming posts describing each of these positions in more detail.
An excellent way to learn more about yourself is to take the Chally Assessment, a key part of our Professional Sales Ready and Technology Sales courses. Reach out to us here if you’d like more information on enrolling in a Virtanza program.