Getting your first Sales Role

In any job market, obtaining that first job can often be a challenging task. However, with adequate assistance and specialist knowledge, candidates can obtain those maiden job opportunities. The sales job market is one that is particularly characterized by a large number of vacancies and intense competition between recruitment firms and applicants. One of the reasons why there is so much competition in the sales market is partly because new recruitment firms are constantly entering the market. Another reason is because many graduates and even those who already have some commercial experience in other industrial sectors are looking to begin careers in the sales industry. It should also be mentioned that not all sales roles in the job market are lucrative roles. In fact, many of them have the tendency to be exploitative and sub-standard in nature. This means that such roles offer candidates very little scope for career progress and fulfilment. So the question is how do graduates and graduate calibre individuals secure their first sales job?One of the keys to making that first career step into the sales industry is adequate sales training. This is because with comprehensive sales training, employers will be more willing to give graduates some employment considerations. However, training is not enough. Candidates still need the specialist knowledge, employment contacts and experience of a graduate selection and sales training agency. Such agencies have a proven potential to expedite and streamline the whole process of obtaining suitable sales roles. Throughout the UK, university graduates and experienced professionals alike have made the sales recruitment field one of the most lucrative in the world. Choosing a good recruiting agency is like selecting a car, meaning it is substantial and needs to run perfectly to keep careers moving along smoothly. This comes as no surprise when one considers that the clientele base of major recruiting agencies include some of the world’s most famous brand names. Also, many of their candidates are presently some of the best-performing sales professionals in the industry today. This success is largely attributable to their fundamental concept of the right attitude. These agencies believe that with the right attitude, there is nothing that cannot be achieved within the field of sales. It should also be highlighted that after agencies have secured a suitable role for their candidates, they continue to provide them with post-recruitment support and guidance beyond the first day of work. Very few recruitment organizations offer their candidates this same type of extensive support and it is important for sales people to find the right agency.

Corporate Sales for Graduates

The corporate world is a tough place for new graduates to enter, whether in the UK or in Europe. Corporations are often seen as monoliths that allow few people in and merely produce goods and services for profit. However, corporations put up barriers to public view and high graduate employment for a number of reasons. Corporate executives and managers are under a lot of pressure to adhere to strict government regulations while trying to stay competitive in the marketplace. In fact, selecting employees for short and long term positions is one of the few areas in which corporations can really push themselves beyond the competition. Selecting the right candidates for graduate roles in the corporate world can turn a secondary player in a particular market into an industry leader. For graduates and corporations, there are a few graduate roles that are common throughout the UK. The most common graduate role is that of the graduate trainee. Whether it is a sales department or a distribution center, graduates often enter the corporate world through long term training programs. These programs are designed to benefit both the graduate and the corporation, as graduates learn the tricks of the trade in order to help their employer succeed in the marketplace. Another popular graduate role in the UK is the apprentice. There are many fields where apprenticeships are common, including the building trades and the financial sector. Apprenticeships are a little more advanced than graduate trainees, as apprentices work with one specific professional to learn firsthand how to complete their future position. Often, graduate apprentices are the next in line to take an experienced professional’s position due to retirement or advancement in the company. Many graduates like the role of apprentice, as it shows a corporation’s interest in having them stick around for years to come. UK corporations also have the graduate role of temporary worker as part of their personnel group. Temporary workers often provide a hand to corporations during a transitional phase or a particularly busy time of year. This graduate role is becoming more prevalent in the UK corporate world, as companies are looking for a way to cut down on payroll while maintaining a high level of achievement during peak periods. Graduates benefit from this particular corporate role because they can gain experience in their field while earning a paycheck. As well, exceptional graduates may be asked to stay on for longer projects or full time when budgets permit such a move.

Graduate Marketing and Sales Careers

The founder and CEO of a well-established group of companies noted that the first and most important rule in sales and marketing is to educate yourself first. That is the primary reason why you go through the long years of education, work hard to earn your sales or marketing degree and prepare yourself to go out to the very competitive sales and marketing world.Many people have the impression that sales and marketing are one and the same. While the there is a direct, significant correlation between the two, they are also significantly different. Marketing is about reaching and persuading prospective customers to avail of your products and services. Sales, on the other hand, is the process of sealing the deal through a signed contract or an availed product or service. Without marketing, you would not have prospective customers what it is you are selling. Yet, without sales, your daily closing income would be depressing. To put it simply, marketing only matters if it is, at the end of the day, converted into sales. There is a continuous cycle between marketing and sales, and you must be able to understand it in order to be successful in the field.It is but natural for new graduates to want to land a job that would hasten their way up to success. Many of them believe it is the graduate marketing and sales job they are aspiring for that could bring them to that desired disposition. Graduate jobs in sales and marketing are the fastest path for college graduates to corporate success. This can be attributed to the fact that sales and marketing jobs are people-oriented occupations.Marketing plans are important to a business' success. The weight of this responsibility is typically carried on the shoulders of college graduates who occupy marketing positions. Most fresh graduates start out as marketing agents in various firms. The job responsibilities will challenge you to produce results in the form of sales. In addition to the training that the company you are working for provides, you also continue to develop certain skills that are necessary for you to communicate better with your prospects and customers. Those skill will keep the company moving in the direction that would meet the needs of your target market.On the sales front, you should learn how to treat every customer like royalty. Relieve the customer of any obstacle in order to make things easier for him or her. Remember that a single obstacle might cause him or her doing business with you. Because of today's highly competitive markets, it is very difficult to acquire and retain loyal customers. You have to keep giving them what they want and, at the same time, do so in the most pleasing and professional manner. Sales professionals continuously learn how to read their customers in order to provide better service. Passion grows for their customers that enables them to understand their thinking and reasons for buying.It is important to note, however, how imperative it is for sales and marketing professionals to allow their target clientèle to take the lead. Instead of offering new products and services that are not necessary to the prospects and customers, they should offer instead things that will provide genuine solutions. Knowing your target market needs will get you a long, long way.Those who are able to come up with intelligent marketing strategies as well as those who are able to significantly raise the company's closing rate will definitely be recognized. This success does not come without the individual's constant willingness to learn new things and continuously develop the skills they already possess. Those attributes are the things that companies are looking for in every employee. Having those capabilities will definitely get you recognized and promoted in the long run.Many people believe that the motivation that drives sales and marketing individuals has to do with the commissions companies usually offer when reaching a specific quota. It is no denying that this is partly true. However, the more important motivation are the individuals that sales and marketing people deal and commit with everyday. As already stated above, sales and marketing is all about people. Sales and marketing jobs require the individual to deal with people everyday. With the training that you gained from school and the company you work for, the skills you learn everyday and the passion you develop for your job, is what makes a real difference to your clients and to your overall success.Being successful in sales and marketing may come relatively faster than other careers, but it still requires time and practice. If you commit yourself, keep an open mind, learn from your mistakes and be patient, your success will follow shortly.

Increasing Graduate Sales Performance

Increasing sales output is the primary way which businesses can increase their overall profitability and market share ratios. This is why employers from a variety of different sectors such as the finance, banking, medical and IT sectors have a high demand for sales professionals who have the skills and experience they require. Keeping consistent levels of good sales performance is never an easy task even for the most experienced corporate sales teams. At some point or the other, sales professionals will need a mechanism or a coaching service through which they can maintain motivational levels and increase their total sales output. Graduates who are looking to enter the sales industry will find that employers will hire them only if they are convinced that they can add value to their sales force. One way of convincing employers of this is to undergo comprehensive sales training. A graduate selection and sales training company which specialized in recruiting and training graduate and graduate calibre individuals can significantly aid the prospective sales job applicant.Such companies will be able to expedite and streamline the whole process if finding a suitable sales job role. The best sales consultancies of this sort will also build and maintain effective working relationships with their corporate clients. This will ensure that they have an in-depth understanding of the operational and organizational requirements of their clients. Furthermore, in many respects, graduate trainees will also need a kind of on-the-job training after they have completed their standard formal training. The reason for this is because such extensive training will enable them to immediately settle in their new roles. It will also allow them to begin making effective contributions to their respective organizations.The problem here is that there are very few sales recruitment consultancies which offer comprehensive training and extensive post-recruitment training services. Many firms and companies simply would not provide investment outlay required for this type of training. Hence, the help which a top notch sales consultancy can provide to a graduate or graduate calibre sales job applicant cannot be overemphasized. The extensive sales training programs offered by agencies are sure to increase a candidate’s chances of securing some of the best sales jobs on the market. A variety of post-recruitment services also help guarantee a successful career in the long run. Regardless of what sort of sales job a candidate is looking for a field sales or business to business sales job, the services of a top flight recruiting agency can provide them with effective assistance

Sales Management for Graduates

Graduates from universities in the United Kingdom and Europe who are interested in sales careers invariably think about ascending to management positions. Sales managers operate as the middle level between sales staff and sales executives, providing motivation to salespeople while ensuring the daily, monthly, and quarterly bottom line. The average day for a sales manager involves a variety of meetings and phone calls with field sales staff, fellow sales managers, and executives about company goals and new products. As well, sales managers need to attend sessions on new products and company policies in order to disseminate their knowledge down to sales professionals. Finally, sales managers need to keenly observe other managers and competing companies to figure out creative solutions to common sales problems. Young professionals interested in becoming sales managers need to look at particular industries first before applying haphazardly for open positions. Graduates with some technical experience should consider working in the information technology or telecommunications industries. Companies in these fields require strong sales managers to keep sales departments running efficiently. For graduates with a liberal arts education, there are positions in publishing firms for sales managers. Sales managers are important in publishing houses because profit margins are tight and every sale counts. Sales managers need to balance their personal interests, the strength of a particular industry, and a company’s dedication to their sales managers before applying for a job. Once graduates decide which field to pursue, they need to make it through a rigorous application process. Companies are looking for natural leaders in their sales managers, with intangible skills that can be used from day one in the workplace. The graduate who is able to distinguish themselves as organized, articulate, and committed to excellence will stand the best chance of succeeding in sales management. Typically, companies offer extensive training for sales management applicants. Graduates are put through classroom training about company policies, products, and the competition. With this information at hand, sales managers use the workplace as their laboratory under the guidance of experienced sales staff. The quick pace of sales management gets exceptional graduates up to speed within weeks, not months or years. The rewards for this quick learning curve and hard work are great for sales management graduates. Sales managers typically make salaries in the mid 30,000 to low 40,000 pound range, depending on company size. Managers receive exceptional benefits, ongoing professional development, and stock options which provide long term financial incentives.

Graduate Sales Training

All too often, graduates who go to recruitment consultancies are given only the most cursory of assessments before being put forward for jobs, and then are left to learn sales skills on the job, with piecemeal or inconsistent training and support. It is time for graduate sales professionals and recruits to choose their best possible career options and go with progressive sales recruiting agencies. Rather than assessing people on their sales experience in the past, the best recruiting agencies take on people that they believe have the potential to be great salespeople in the future – they look for a great attitude and then build the rest through a series of training courses and coaching programmes, helping graduates acquire sales skills in a structured, tried and tested manner. By taking on graduates with little or no sales experience, and then moulding them into salespeople through a carefully designed graduate sales training and support programme, they can start with a fresh slate rather than having to unlearn old and tired sales habits. The result? Highly motivated and highly skilled young salespeople.Nor can just anyone join their graduate sales training programme or get placed with corporate clients. On the contrary, they are exceptionally picky about getting only the best candidates in for assessment, meeting face-to-face over an extensive period rather than the quick interview that most recruitment consultancies grant candidates, and engaging in group scenarios, psychometric testing, and informational presentations. These new recruiting agencies get to know their candidates a lot better than most recruiters, and that way they can be confident that the people we put forward for jobs really are the best available.Sales people need to look at recruitment agencies that have a commitment to excellence. The best recruiting agencies offer comprehensive services throughout their connection with corporate clients and sales recruits, whether it is a month-long consultation with a corporation or a year’s worth of professional development for a sales person. This type of commitment show the confidence of employers with their method and the success that these agencies have in finding the right connection between employers and employees. The philosophy behind progressive sales training is that it should be innovative, memorable, and fun, and relevant to the challenges that salespeople will face in their jobs. It is the mission of the new wave of sales recruiting firms to maximise the potential of each of their recruits by making the right placements the first time.

Graduate Sales Recruitment

A savvy graduate in the United Kingdom needs to know where graduate sales recruitment takes place in order to maximise his time and effort. Graduates who pursue the impersonal path of sending out applications via the Internet are missing out on an important aspect of graduate sales recruitment. Employers and recruiters look for graduate sales people who are interested in getting out to meet diverse groups of people. You can maximise your efforts in finding graduate sales work by pinpointing high-traffic areas for recruitment. Corporate open houses may seem like an obvious venue but many graduates bypass these events in favour of the informal application process. These open houses are designed to give applicants as well as the general public a view of a company’s inner workings. You cannot stand in the corner at these events and expect to make an impression on corporate employees. Your conversations with sales people, recruiters and executives will work favourably toward finding success in graduate sales recruitment. Graduates can learn the steps needed to succeed in future jobs by attending speeches by corporate officers, inventors and other experienced professionals. These events are invaluable to understanding what sales departments look for in graduate sales professionals. The best events to attend are question-and-answer sessions where you can speak directly to the person on stage. You can impress the person on stage as well as prospective employers in the audience with considerate questions. Every graduate should know how to stand out from the crowd for graduate sales recruiters at university fairs. You need to pick up a map of booths throughout a university fair to determine the most efficient route for the amount of time available. A well-developed sales pitch about your qualifications to a recruiter can shoot you to the top of the list of applicants. You should produce enough resumes for every table at a university fair to spread your qualifications out as far as possible. Many graduates fail to realise the power of a student internship in garnering attention during graduate sales recruitment. An internship with a sales department gives you insight into the skills needed for full-time sales people. You can also learn about marketing and recruitment efforts from their inception through completion. This inside information can be used during graduate sales recruitment whether it is creating a well-informed CV or using sales language in interviews that cannot be learned in the classroom.