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Novice Sales Representative: Survival Course. Who is the sales representative? Responsibilities of a sales representative

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If you're really that good, try selling me this thing.

W. Pandstone

A sales representative is today a fashionable profession, the content of which few have clear ideas.

But according to the announcements on the street and in the press, it can be concluded that specialists in this field are very much in demand on the labor market.

Before deciding "I want to become a sales representative!", You need to understand what this work consists of and how to do it right.

A person’s work in this specialty is closely related to sales. But he is not a seller or a barker. T

the sales representative communicates with the owners of outlets in order to conclude a supply agreement, takes orders for the supply of goods, is engaged in the search for new customers, financial control and advising customers.

This profession has several advantages:

  • Liberty. The sales representative is not in the office all day in front of the boss and, as a rule, is free in his movements and schedule.
  • Decent pay. Typically, the earnings of those who work in this profession directly depend on their efforts, and are rarely low when implementing a plan.
  • The dynamic rhythm of life, continuous communication and the possibility of self-improvement.

But in this barrel of honey there is also a bit of tar. At the same time, being a driver, a collector, a fine psychologist, an accountant, and a consultant is the only way to become a sales representative. Therefore, talking about the ease of this profession is not necessary.

Often, work requires additional time, which is not paid. Product courses, sales training, job preparation - all this takes a lot of personal time. And in order to master the basics of working as a sales representative, you need to be prepared for that.

Types of Sales Representatives

This profession has expanded so much today that types of sales representatives have begun to stand out. You can classify them by employer. Some work for the distributor, others for the manufacturer. Work for the manufacturer, as a rule, is more comfortable, profitable and promising, but difficult to obtain, as well as less free.

Classification is carried out by assortment focus. An exclusive sales representative offers goods from one manufacturer, and a “general price” sales representative sells the entire range of the distributor he works for. According to the trading channel, work with retail, work on networks and on the HORECA spectrum are distinguished.

According to the form of sales organization, among sales representatives you can find those who take orders for goods - presellers, and those who unload goods from cars - veneilers. When choosing a vacancy, it is important to consider what type of sales representative it is preferable to be.

How to become a successful sales representative?

This profession, one might say, implies strict natural selection. That is, people of a certain warehouse of character can successfully cope with it. And also those who, in order to understand how to become a successful sales representative, are ready to completely change their behavior. Humble silent people who do not have sociability are unlikely to succeed in this field. To do this, you need to have a number of skills:

  • Talkativeness is the first condition for becoming a good sales representative;
  • Speed \u200b\u200bof reactions;
  • The ability to create a positive impression;
  • The ability to quickly assess the situation and develop an optimal plan of action.

To the question “How should a sales representative work?” There is a definite answer. He must work so that from the first words he can convince sellers that the products he offers are profitable, popular and of high quality, with them the store will become the best in the city.

Success in this profession requires discipline and mobility. In one short day, an employee visits many retail outlets, pays attention to all customers, thinks about the implementation of the plan, and draws up a report. All this must be done in order to catch the office at the appointed time.

How to work as a sales representative if there is no energy, sociability, or perseverance in character? Only willpower, self-organization, self-control, determination, ability to conduct a conversation without conflict will help to carry out their duties clearly and planned, despite all the force majeure circumstances.

There are special trainings and literature on how to become a good sales representative. In addition to increasing sales, they are aimed at developing all these necessary qualities, since they should be a priority for a sales representative.

Sales Representative First Steps

If a set of initial characteristics is present and there is a desire to develop it, it is time to come to grips with how to get a sales representative. A variety of areas demonstrate the need for specialists in this field. For many, work experience is important, but some leaders are of the opinion that this profession is a vocation, and its success is determined by the presence of the applicant primarily talent, and only then experience.

It is better to start a career at the manufacturer, and not at the distributor. To do this, you will have to try: attend more than one interview, prove your suitability "in the fields." But this is the only way to start working as a sales representative for the manufacturer. This place of work provides the employee with automobile, fuel, and mobile communications.

In addition, this is a great start for a successful career. Working with a distributor is always more difficult. This is a diverse product that you need to know from and to, the need for a car, which will have to be repaired at your own expense, is not such a high income. But this post is easier to get.

From the first day of work, a beginner who presents any type must show diligence, understanding of the matter and, of course, the result. It is better to ask all incomprehensible questions in advance than to spend a working day on them, distracting from the implementation of the plan and distracting others. “In the field” should go fully trained specialist, ready for any turn.

Sales Representative: How to Become a Professional?

A sales representative is a specific profession that does not have a clear career ladder. Within different organizations, a sales representative can be promoted to a supervisor, instructor or brand manager. Some representatives of this profession refuse to increase.

This serves as a good answer to the question of whether it is profitable to work as a sales representative. But if a career is a priority, then you need to not just work, but learn how to work as a sales representative. The secret is simple: continuous self-improvement. The work should always be 100% complete, the prize should not be an award, but a mandatory personal setting.

It is necessary to organize their activities so that the authorities were able to decide on an increase in the next 5 years. At the same time, do not forget about the voluntary refusal to increase. The following facts usually serve as the main motive for this:

  • how much a sales representative receives depends only on himself;
  • preservation of personal freedom in the profession;
  • moral satisfaction from daily victories.

A rare profession is able to provide such conditions.

The profession of sales representative is now quite common. Applicants are attracted by a flexible schedule and a decent salary. the site found out who the sales representatives are, what responsibilities they carry out, how much they earn and what career prospects they have.

Who is the sales representative

A sales representative (sales agent, wholesale manager) is an intermediary between the company whose products he represents and retail outlets (shops, pharmacies, beauty salons).

The sales representative offers various groups of goods: from baby food and medicine to furniture and sports equipment. Remember the film “Anonymous Romantics”, where the main character, went to pastry shops with a suitcase full of chocolate? She acted as sales representative, persuading store owners and sellers to enter into a contract with a chocolate factory to supply sweet products for sale.

By the way, the sales representative himself does not stand behind the counter and does not sell anything.

How do you get into this profession? Most often - from the street. This means that special education is not required. It’s great if the applicant has a diploma. But practice shows that in this professional area not theoretical knowledge is important, but work experience and personal characteristics. A university graduate with a red diploma who does not know how to select customers and does not know how to present the goods from the best side, the employer will probably prefer the one who ate “the dog at sales,” but only has a secondary education.

What does a sales representative do

It all depends on the field of activity in which the sales representative works. The industry of beauty, sports, food, household, educational and entertainment sectors - the list is extensive, which means that each applicant can find a suitable niche.

A sales representative performs many tasks:

  • Search for customers, studying information about potential partners, creating a database of customers;
  • Telephone conversations with potential customers;
  • Business "live";
  • Product presentation;
  • Conclusion of contracts with owners of outlets or their representatives;
  • Financial control, tracking of orders, accounting for the payment of goods;
  • Customer consultation;
  • Regular visits to points of sale and analysis of sales results.

It is not enough for a sales representative to conclude a contract for the supply of goods to a particular store. It is very important to monitor the further “life” of products on the counter: whether consumers are in demand (if not, why), how often they are updated in the window, are they sold at an overpriced price.

8 steps to a successful outlet visit

Knowledgeable sales representatives identify 8 steps of the visit, which should be remembered by those who want to conclude profitable contracts with the owners of outlets:

  1. Prepare for the visit: study the information about your product and about the client with whom you are going to cooperate.
  2. Analyze the work of the outlet, evaluate its reliability.
  3. Correctly greet the client: the owner of the outlet or its representative.
  4. Check inventory.
  5. Present the product, talk about its benefits.
  6. Determine the method of selling goods in the store.
  7. Fill out the required documents.
  8. Analyze the result of visiting the outlet.

Sales Representative's Business Day

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They began to occupy commerce since ancient times and will continue for a very long time. Sales, purchases will always exist, regardless of the well-being of people. And those who timely and competently enter this wave will be able to make good money and even successfully advance.

A bit of history

The first sales agents can be considered Russian merchants. They were the very first entrepreneurs who made purchase and sale transactions on their own behalf. Merchants traveled around the world and bought goods from those who produced them, and then brought them to places where this product was needed.

A modern sales representative is a kind of merchant offering goods to those who need it. As in ancient times, such people are very in demand. After all, the owner of the goods does not need to look for a buyer, and the buyer does not need to go for "distant lands". The merchant was a kind of intermediary. Now this role is played by a sales agent.

It is clear that with the services of intermediaries the goods come out more expensive. But people always looked forward to merchants, because not everyone had the opportunity to go for the goods themselves. And the things brought were sometimes very rare or necessary.

Modern merchant

So, if in ancient times the role of intermediary between the buyer and the seller was played by the merchant, now specially trained people are engaged in this.

A sales representative is a person who offers and presents certain products. His responsibilities include offering goods, monitoring sales and reporting.


This post has many titles. In newspapers you can find advertisements for recruiting sales representatives, agents, or sales managers. But the name of the essence does not change, their responsibilities are the same.

Responsibilities of a sales agent

Given that the sales representative is the person who represents the goods, and his responsibilities are appropriate. But you do not need to think that he is standing behind the counter and, like a seller, is selling. Here everything is more multifaceted.

Work implies which is its responsibility. As a rule, a company hiring an employee has in its arsenal several suppliers whose products should be offered.

Therefore, the main thing, working in this area:

  • Be able to build business relationships with suppliers and potential buyers.
  • To know all the detailed information about the proposed product and be able to properly advertise it.
  • Gain your loyal customers and be able to keep them. At the same time, look for new buyers.
  • Making presentations about the offered goods and services.
  • Work with documents, preparation of reports, conclusion of contracts.
  • If the product is specific, seller training on selling nuances.
  • For successful work, the sales representative must also be constantly aware of price fluctuations in the market for similar goods, and study the offers of other companies.

As can be seen from the responsibilities, a sales representative is an employee who sits a little in the office, and is constantly on the road and looking for profitable customers and deals. Even if the customer base has already been accumulated, it is necessary to constantly monitor the market and not miss out on your customers.

Applicant Requirements

  • The modern market makes many demands on any profession. A company's sales representative is a person who makes a profit, therefore many employers require a higher education from the applicant.
  • Required personal qualities such as sociability and grasping new information literally on the fly.
  • Often a car is required. But if the company is large, it is only necessary and the car will be provided with an official one. In addition, you will be provided with corporate mobile communications.
  • Mandatory knowledge of conducting reporting and contracts. Therefore, education is necessary economic or legal.
  • Of course, you should be well versed in PCs.
  • Often, the requirements indicate availability. But if the organization is large, the base has already been developed and the applicant needs only experience in sales.

Education is not important

But even if you have a red diploma and a lot of knowledge about the rules of sale and the psychological characteristics of people, you can not do without communication skills. Therefore, if you are naturally quiet and shy, you should look for another job.

After all, working as a sales representative implies constant communication, and most importantly - the ability to convince. You can give a simple example, thinking about which, it is easy to understand whether you can work as a sales agent.

So you come to an unfamiliar supermarket and you need to assess the situation in a short period of time, understand which goods are in excess, which are missing, and which, maybe not at all. And then get to know the procurement manager and convince him of the need to work with you.


Can you do that? If you think that this is simple, and your language is suspended, as it should, then perhaps you will make a career in this field. But if everything new frightens you and it’s not your hobby to convince, then you should not even try to take on the work of a sales manager.

Advantages of a sales representative

  1. Of course, those who do not want to sit in the office all day, but wish freedom in their actions and ways of working, will like the position.
  2. Only on the abilities and perseverance of a person depends on his earnings. If someone sits on a bare salary, the sales representative can significantly add to his salary. After all, the main income depends on sales. How many sold, concluded contracts, so much and received interest remuneration.
  3. For lovers of communication and networking, the work is more than suitable. You will constantly improve in acquiring a bunch of useful acquaintances, learn to understand any person at a glance and you can convince anyone of anything.



Work inconvenience

But, no matter how bright the prospect, this profession still has its drawbacks.

People who are in search of work more and more often stumble across the media, the Internet, ads such a mysterious vacancy as a Sales Representative. And judging by the number of advertisements submitted, we can say with confidence that this is one of the most sought-after profession in the labor market. While employers often do not require job experience

sales representative, they offer attractive pay for labor. In small cities, it can compete with the salaries of middle managers. When looking for a job, it’s hard to get past such offers, but most of the candidates are scared away by the unknown. What are the official sales representative responsibilitiesWhat kind of work is this? In this article I will tell you briefly what the work of a sales representative (TP) is.

A sales representative is the link between the seller and the buyer. By seller we mean the company of the supplier, and by the buyer, wholesalers, chain stores, retail outlets, as well as restaurants, hotels, clubs (this sector is called HoReCa). 90% of the time TP is in the fields and 10% in the office.


Responsibilities of a sales representative include:

  • visit your points of sale on your territory according to the route sheet,
  • collect applications for the supply of products,
  • promote new products
  • take money for previous deliveries of goods,
  • control the receivables of your customers,
  • put your products in the best places,
  • search for new outlets
  • conclusion of contracts, signing of reconciliation acts.

But still, the main goal in the work of a sales representative is for outlets to take goods that are promoted by the supplier of products. And for this, the sales representative sometimes has to try:
-to establish good relations with managers and staff of stores;
-Lighten your company and products sold in the best light;
- competently "convince" the outlet to take these products to their shelves;
- conclude an agreement and bring products
It is also the duty of the sales representative to “knock out” the best place on the shelf for his products, to install his equipment, if his company has one.

The work of a sales representative has its advantages:

career prospects;
salary is directly proportional to the efforts made (with an adequate leader)
it is work in the fresh air;
remoteness from the authorities;
flexible work schedule (if necessary, you can easily go away on business);

The disadvantages of this profession include:

Attachment of TP to the car (if it breaks, it will be problematic to service its territory);
-stressed work, close to stress;
-material liability (sometimes you have to answer for quite a considerable amount of money);

Sergey Grinin,
business trainer

The author of the article is Sergey Grinin, a certified business coach. He is engaged in consulting, team building, development of motivation systems and staff recruitment. The creator of the project “How to Effectively Sell and Manage”, the author of the mini-book “10 errors of a sales representative when visiting a point of sale”, excerpts from which are given below.

TP works as a postman

I ask a sales representative:

Why go to the point?

Take the order.

Stop, stop, stop. In this case, the main function of the "trading" is to transfer information from the seller to the delivery service. That is, the agent simply transfers the data as correspondence. The postmen are engaged in such work. In the company "Russian Post". I am sure that the name of the organization in which you receive a salary is different from the above.

The goods are not for sale. In general, nothing is for sale. Need to sell. Then there will be sales. Then the plan will be implemented. A sales representative must DO, NOT TAKE an order. He must form it, draw up and convince the point that she needs to order just as much, and not less.



The secretary can take the order by phone. Then a sales representative is not needed as a phenomenon. Then you can fire him. Sales representatives SELL.

Output:  At the level of persuasion, you must learn: the sales representative must sell. At the same time, selling actively. It is he who draws up the order and convinces the point that she needs just such a volume of production. To do this, remove the leftovers in each store and work with the sales history.

TP works without preparation

The best improvisation is prepared in advance. Many sales representatives think differently. During field coaching sessions, I hear every time:

Now I’ll go to the point and “trample” everything, and in advance it’s difficult for me to lose the possible scenario and dialogues.

As soon as we get to the point, “dulling” begins, verbiage, incoherent muttering and, as a result, bewilderment, misunderstanding on the part of sellers. Sometimes even a laugh. Well, can you be taken seriously in stores after that?

Before the visit, you can and should prepare a presentation. Think over what needs are at the point, which can be objectionable. Decide what questions you will ask the seller so that the dialogue goes according to the scenario we need, and not to him.



You can take a piece of paper and write a script for your visit. If the head is with the sales representative, then you can play along with him a couple of dialogue scenarios with the most likely needs and objections. After that, it will be difficult to take you by surprise. The likelihood of a successful completion increases significantly.

Output:  To visit the outlets you need to prepare. Questions, presentations and objections are best rehearsed with a supervisor or simply written on paper.

TP stops when the answer is "No"

The most striking and striking problem, especially in the work of beginners. The agent makes a presentation, talks about his proposal, but hears in response: “No. We don’t need, not this time, we don’t want to. ” The sales representative takes it on faith, turns around and leaves.

When asked why the point refused, the sales representative can not give a clear answer. He didn’t even bother to inquire, but really - WHY? Overcoming objections is part of the sales process. This is natural and normal. Of course, you can make such presentations that there will be no objections. But this does not always work out. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the essence of the objection and overcome it.

Learn from a small child. When they refuse him, what does he do? He asks - WHY? And, strangely enough, he finds the answer. It also happens that a person objects, they ask him a question, he answers - to the questioner and to himself. And then he was visited by the thought: “Indeed, why not?” And he agrees.

There are people who, by their nature, always respond to any offer with a refusal. So they are arranged. You should know it. And with this you can and should work.

Output:  The sales representative must work with the customer's objections, understand and overcome them. If you can’t overcome the objection, you need to fix it and discuss it with the leader or colleagues.


Continued in the next issue.