Current trends impacting sales jobs

The global free-market economy has led to significant changes in sales in the U.S. and abroad. For example, according to sales giant Salesforce, outsourcing end-to-end sales processes to third-party vendors, aligning sales (B2B) and marketing (B2C) domains, and selling products on social media have created new revenues and exploded market opportunities for big and small companies alike.

Because of these changes in the industry, the demand for quality salespeople has risen. From the IT industry to the manufacturing sector, global sales trends have boosted abundant opportunities for sales jobs. In addition, companies such as SAP America provide employees a chance to earn high sales commissions, whereas IT firms like CA Technologies have sales representatives making an excellent base salary and bonus through commission.

The COVID pandemic did put a bit of a brake on global trade, falling by 9.2% in 2020 alone, and full recovery to pre-pandemic sales will likely take years. Employment in every sector was impacted, but sales jobs, according to financial experts, are among the least affected due to the rise of the e-commerce sector — jobs in sales declined only by 2% during the pandemic, a much lower rate compared to other industries.

Seven of the top soft skills needed for sales jobs

Selling is a skill! And salesmanship, the combination of a discrete set of soft and hard skills that are ethically and thoughtfully administered, can be your tool to a long and lucrative career. While salesmanship requires different types of skills, they are also usually determined by job specifications. So if you’re a newly recruited salesperson, know you will most likely learn how to do your job in many different ways. However, there are some skills all people in the industry should obtain.

Below are seven desired skills required that are simple, pragmatic, and practical:

• Listen to your customer:

  It might be the most overlooked sales skill. Studies say that a salesperson with good listening skills retains more than 50% of customers. This makes sense, right? Better customer interactions — and a real connection to a human being that acknowledges your needs and wants — ultimately leads to more sales. Good listening also generates a sense of respect from the customer.

• Flexible speaking skills:

  Good salespeople change how they structure their message depending on their target customer, whether in person, in writing, over a video call, or on the phone. An efficient salesman makes sure the person on the other side understands them clearly. And remember, communication skills include both verbal and non-verbal conversation, such as keeping intense eye contact. Mirroring facial expressions and not slouching.

• Sharp organizational and product intelligence:

  If you choose sales as a career path, you should know the structure of the business. For example, you should know as much as possible about the product, the company’s services, its business clients, and its competitors. Moreover, you should understand the people in the company and what they do — this will help you learn the information you can use in your sales strategy, for example. For example, suppose you are an Apple sales representative trying to get more hospitals to buy iPads for diagnostic use. In that case, you should know about the top apps and security features available in the devices to make sure patient information is airtight secure — a huge concern for hospitals. And knowing how Apple manufactures its iPad devices could probably help you determine how many hospitals could buy in bulk order, for instance.

• Self-motivation:

  Being in sales can be challenging. Salespeople are vulnerable to getting frustrated and depressed if they don’t hit a sales benchmark. Therefore, self-motivation is required to help you work during tough times. Self-motivation is a weapon that supports you in your sales career. Of course, being self-motivated doesn’t mean you can’t use tools to help you improve, such as mental health apps or even talking with personal coaches.

• Critical thinking and problem-solving:

  Today, many companies are worried about new graduates lacking essential skills like critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. These soft skills are often missing from class curriculums. Companies believe these qualities should be innate in a salesman and prefer a candidate to avoid putting extra money into training.

• Prospecting:

  Prospecting is one of the leading sets of tasks required by salespeople, and one needs a great skill set to do it well. Knowing how to prospect allows you to maintain a pipeline of potential customers and presents you as the trusted advisor for the product or service. If you are an excellent client prospector, you can quickly turn potential customers into buyers and prevent you from wasting hours chasing unresponsive messages or emails. This skill can’t be gained overnight. You will achieve it with experience working in an environment with solid sales expectations.

• Tech-savvy:

  The sales game is constantly changing. With every new month or week, a new product or service comes into the market to take over the business. Think of how the iPhone blew out all other cellphones in 2007. Being tech-savvy will increase your productivity and efficiency in carrying out any task. Through social media blogs, articles, trade shows, referrals, and advertising, you can easily connect with your customer and boost customer acquisition. You can also easily leverage sales mobility. To become tech-savvy, enhance your technical skills and make use of content conversion tools such as Vutura.io.

Educational requirements for sales jobs

Companies believe in formal education. No matter how many skills you have mastered while at work, you should have a proper educational background to hone your skills and enhance your experience.

You need to carry a degree in sales and marketing for a sales manager job. Similarly, a bachelor’s degree in engineering is required to start as a sales engineer with a business degree (BBA/MBA). To get started in this particular job, a diploma or certificate in sales or engineering also works. However, growing competition in the market also raises the bar of educational requirements. Therefore, companies prefer qualified candidates with a formal degree in math and commerce background for senior positions in sales jobs.

Individuals considering sales representative or associate jobs should know they require a high-school diploma. However, the sales job for technical and scientific products (such as pharmaceutical goods) often requires a bachelor’s degree relevant to the sales area. Certificates in sales are also acceptable by many companies for technical and non-technical sales jobs.