Sales Executive is a challenging yet interesting job profile with a significant role to play in the company, driving sales of the products and services offered. They use various tactics and strategies to boost sales and contribute to the business. Working under a sales manager’s guidance, a sales executive identifies and pursues prospects and leads to increase company sales. 

A sales executive is the direct representative of the company.  Being the front face of the sales department, sales executives are adept with persuasive skills and well-versed with the company’s ideologies to be tenable in conveying the right message across to prospective buyers.

The charge of a sales executive starts right from discovering new leads to negotiating the deal and converting sales while ensuring customer satisfaction post-sales. Building a rapport with the patrons being one of the key roles to increase the size of the sales funnel. Communication and interpersonal skills contribute highly to the role of a sales executive. 

Any organization expects its sales executives to be self-inspired, aspiring individuals with exceptional demonstrative capabilities. Furthermore, they are always on the lookout for a personality that inspires, motivates and influences the audience for sustainable growth, and they often try to find one in their sales team.

What Do Sales Executives Actually Do?

Sales executives build business for their company by discovering prospective buyers and initiating a relationship with them through introducing the company, the product or service or strike a chord to the prospect about their unfulfilled need.

A sales executive’s core job is to contribute to the revenue generation of a company, and there can be different ways and means to accomplish this goal. Below are some roles and responsibilities of a sales executive as per the expectations of a company or organization. 

Identification of Prospects and Analyzing Sales Options

A sales executive discovers new prospects and analyses the scope of sale conversion. Prior experience, insight and knowledge of sales personnel help them identify the right prospects and deliver a correct analysis about scope and capacity. 

Sales Gap Analysis 

Sales gap analysis is basically a tool for assessing the business holdings of a company and target volume that needs to be chased. This involves identifying the difference between business performance and requirements. This is the initial step for setting the sales target and finding ways to fulfil the targets. 

Customer Relationship Management

Approaching the prospect, identifying their need, and recommending solutions/product/service to meet the customer requirements – all fall under the customer relationship management umbrella. As a sales executive, you need to build a rapport with the prospect to ensure you can convince them to make a purchase.  This also includes informing, supporting, and guiding the clients and prospective buyers through the buying process. In most jobs, CRM is extended post-sales too. 

Negotiation

The sales executive negotiates with the prospect until the sale is converted, keeping the ultimate goal in mind, i.e., to close the deal. Usually, sales executives are equipped with a certain level of liberty by offering attractive deals to tenacious customers to ensure a lead is not lost. 

Sales Analysis and Reporting 

Sales analysis, forecasting and reporting all equally contribute to the advantageous use of data for better insights for sales & marketing. A competent sales executive studies the data meticulously to develop his own sales analysis, forecasting and reporting. This helps in strategy designing for marketing as well as product improvement. 

Supply Chain Management 

Although inventory and logistics are not the responsibility of a sales executive, circumspectly tracking these makes the supply chain management process seamless and also helps the sales executives in updating the client about the deliveries. 

Contribute to R&D

Be it a new, existing or related product, a sales executive who has been in the field actually as well as virtually is in a better position to raise requirements and suggest changes. By contributing to the research and development, a sales executive conveys the feedback of the customers. 

What are the Skills and Qualification Requirements to Become a Sales Executive?

To bag a post of a sales executive in a reputed company and to do justice to your job profile, you will need Graduation or Post Graduation Degree preferably with Marketing-Sales or Business Administration as subjects. Although the educational qualification for this job is not stringent and may vary between different industries and companies, the concentration remains on sales strategy, skills and experience.

However, candidates with business administration and marketing background are always preferred over candidates from non-related fields. Gaining experience in sales isn’t a challenging task. Once you have 3-5 years of work experience in sales and marketing and a good performance record, getting a job as a sales executive in a reputed company becomes a realistic goal. 

Be it soft skills or technical proficiencies, sales executive salary in India is determined by the aptitude and competence of a candidate. Consequently, having the below-mentioned skills and abilities contribute highly to not only getting employed but also negotiating for a respectable salary.  

• Selling Ability and Desire 
• Motivation and Persuasion Skills
• Creativity, Positivity and Confidence
• Determination, Energy Level and Attention to Detail
• Client Relationship Management and Customer Service Skills
• Excellent Communication Skills
• Resilience, Self Motivation and Competitiveness 
• Strong Numeracy and Ability to Reason
• Structured Thinking and Troubleshooting
• Lead Generation and Prospecting
• Adaptability, Leadership and Teamwork 

Why Do you want a Career in Sales?

You are made for a career in sales if you find yourself self-motivated to work in a challenging yet rewarding environment, bound by numeracy, logic and skill to convert sales. It is a way to exploit your potential with a continuous learning opportunity and boost your professional value. 

Opportunity For Go-Getters

Many professionals are ardent about performance-driven career options where your every effort is recognized and rewarded. Sales is one such field of work where an individual works without measure to find their own path and professionally escalate limitlessly. Be it the corporate ladder you climb or the instant gratification in the form of bonuses and commissions – sales is a lucrative career option. 

Exhilarating Battlefield

It is a highly exhilarating workplace where each sale counts tremendously. This gives rise to aggressive competition among sales executives from the competition as well as within the organization. If staying on top and leaving no opportunity untouched stimulates you and gives you an adrenaline rush, you wouldn’t need video games in life as long as you stick to your sales portfolio. 

Connect with People 

A career in sales lets you connect with people, understand their psychology and connect emotionally. Contrary to the prejudice that salespeople are cold and mean, only motivated to convert sales, this job profile also gives you an opportunity to actually connect with people on a one-to-one basis. When you are offering a product/service you believe in, you not only earn a customer and commission but also a person who trusts you. If this gives you inner peace and fulfilment, you are bound to outshine in sales. 

Welcoming Career

As long as you have the skill to convert sales and bring business, you are welcomed aboard by all companies. In the sales department, your professional background, qualification, experience, sex, age bracket are all secondary parameters in relation to your expertise to sell. So, if you want a career choice with not a zilch of favouritism, this one is definitely for you!

Employment Opportunities for Sales Executive

The role of a sales executive is high in demand since almost every sector or domain has a sales department. Companies hire sales executives to multiply their sales and boost revenues. As a sales executive, you can look for a job prospect in the sales department of the following domains: 

• Finance and Insurance
• Advertising
• Retail
• IT
• Hospitality
• Health Care
• Education
• Construction
• Manufacturing
• Consultancies
• Import and Export Firms

Sales Executive Salary in India on Experience Basis

Glassdoor

Sales executive salary at entry-level for a field job starts at around  ₹196,332 per annum, while 2-9 years of experience can fetch you a salary package between ₹226,266- ₹301,184. Since this is a performance-centric job profile, experience, skillset, and performance contribute immensely to the sales executive salary in India.

As you clear your sales targets and climb the ladder, your salary increases, and so does your commissions and bonuses. With prior sales experience and a PG certification, you can expect a senior sales executive post with a salary range of ₹239,942 to ₹398,619. These salaries are inclusive of bonuses, commissions, tips and overtime wage. At a senior level post with 10+ years of experience, you can get a total compensation of ₹635,000. 

Source

Best Job-Oriented Short-Term Course for Aspiring Sales Executives 

upGrad’s Job Linked PG Certification in Sales

PG certification program designed for young aspirants of sales executive job is well suited for graduates looking for a bright and steady career in sales. This corporate training program with a 6-month duration prepares the young graduates with marketing, networking, sales skills and sales strategy concepts from experienced industry experts and academicians. Live sessions with domain experts, dedicated mentorship and placement assurance during the program; this short-term program is highly advantageous for ambitious candidates. 

Become a Certified Sales Professional within six months and learn communication skills, structured thinking and problem solving, productivity and account management, lead generation, marketing strategy building and business growth, leadership and teamwork. All these skills will help you not just in getting a job in a reputed company but also in becoming winning sales professional.

Conclusion

After reading this, if you think you have it in you to enter the sales field, go ahead and prepare yourself for an adventurous journey ahead. Although the initial learning curve will be challenging, you will learn new things on the job as you gain more experience. 

I hope this ultimate guide and comprehensive resource list would help you kick-start your career in sales and marketing and aid you to become a qualified professional and a significant player in your domain. Learning never stops. So, make it a part of your personality and always have an open mind to learn and adopt new ideas and knowledge.