Sales executive

Sales executives connect organisations with customers by winning new business, building client relationships and opening up new markets

Your role as a sales executive is to sell a company's products and services to individuals, businesses and government organisations. Sales may be domestic (within the UK), international, or a mix of both.

As well as approaching potential customers to win new business, you'll maintain strong relationships with existing clients to secure repeat business. The role is usually target-driven, with commission or bonuses for meeting sales goals. In some cases, you may act as a client relationship manager, serving as the main point of contact and identifying opportunities for further business.

There are opportunities for sales executives in all sectors with any organisation that sells products or services.

Job titles vary and may include sales representative, sales consultant, territory manager or business development executive.

Types of sales executive

Sales executives usually operate within one of two main categories of sales:

• business to business (B2B) - selling services and products directly to other businesses, often in large quantities.
• business to customer or consumer (B2C) - selling products directly to end-users, usually to a larger number of clients but in smaller quantities.

Responsibilities

Your work varies depending on whether you're working in B2B or B2C sales, but many tasks overlap. In B2B roles, you'll often deal with formal procurement processes and large contracts, for example selling IT systems to a business or supplying parts to a manufacturer.

B2C roles are more customer-facing and usually involve higher volumes of smaller sales, for example selling cars, financial services or retail products directly to customers.

However, as a sales executive, you'll typically need to:

• act as the main contact between a company and its existing and potential markets
• identify and approach potential new customers through cold calling, networking or referrals
• meet clients (online or face-to-face) to understand their requirements
• research markets and suggest products and solutions that will meet clients' needs
• present products and services in a structured and professional way, tailored to the client
• negotiate terms such as price, delivery and specifications, and close sales
• prepare accurate quotations, proposals or tender documents when required
• maintain and develop business relationships with existing clients to secure repeat business
• gather and analyse market and customer information to inform sales strategy
• attend product training and demonstrations to understand the products you're selling and to network with providers
• represent the company and generate leads at trade shows and exhibitions
• use digital tools and customer relationship management (CRM) systems to track leads, record sales activity and manage accounts, as well as to create reports and provide feedback on performance and trends
• review your own performance against sales targets and identify areas for improvement.

Salary

• Salaries and commission rates vary considerably in sales. As a guide, basic salaries typically start at £25,000 to £28,000. Salaries may be higher for graduate training schemes.
• With experience, you could earn a basic salary of £28,000 to £45,000.
• Salaries at senior level can exceed £100,000 with commission or bonuses, although this depends on the industry, product, location and individual performance.

Salaries are usually a combination of a basic salary (a guaranteed amount, regardless of sales made) and a bonus or commission (based on the quantity or value of sales). The combined amount is often referred to as on-target earnings (OTE). Commission may be calculated as a percentage of, or a flat rate for, every sale, and may be capped or uncapped.

It's also possible to work on a commission-only basis, with no basic salary and income based entirely on sales.

Salaries in London are generally higher than in other parts of the UK, reflecting the higher cost of living. The highest earnings are typically found in sectors such as IT, pharmaceuticals, financial services and medical equipment, where products and contracts are high in value.

As considerable travel is often required, many employers provide a company car, mobile phone, fuel allowance or subsidised mileage. Other benefits may include a pension, private health insurance, life cover and employee assistance programmes.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

Working hours vary according to the sector but are generally quite long, with the pressure to meet targets making early starts and late finishes a regular part of the job.

There may be opportunities for hybrid working, although you'll still need to travel to meet clients and attend exhibitions and events.

What to expect

• Although usually office based, the role often involves regular travel to meet clients, sometimes requiring overnight stays. This may involve overnight absence from home. There may also be opportunities for overseas travel depending on the company and clients.
• Sales is highly target-driven, which can make the work demanding and pressurised, but also rewarding if you thrive in this type of working culture.
• The environment is typically fast paced and competitive, offering the potential for strong earnings and high levels of job satisfaction.
• There are more men than women working in the industry but initiatives are in place to encourage women into sales and to raise awareness of the need for gender diversity, such as the Women in Sales Awards.
• Sales executives are expected to look professional and smart when meeting with clients.

Qualifications

This area of work is open to all graduates, although a degree in business management or marketing may be particularly useful.

A specific degree subject may be required (or an advantage) for certain sectors, for example:

• computing, engineering or technology for technical sales
• media studies for advertising and media sales
• sciences for pharmaceutical sales.

A degree in modern European or Asian languages may be useful if applying to organisations that operate in overseas markets.

Some large employers run sales or business development graduate training schemes and typically look for a 2:1 (although some will accept a 2:2). Find out more about sales graduate schemes.

A pre-entry postgraduate qualification is not needed.

You don't always need a degree to become a sales executive, and academic qualifications are often less important than your experience, skills, competencies and attitude.

It's possible to get into a sales role by doing a relevant apprenticeship, such as:

• Level 3 IT Technical Salesperson Advanced Apprenticeship
• Level 4 Sales Executive Higher Apprenticeship
• Level 6 Business to Business Sales Professional Degree Apprenticeship.

Apprenticeships combine paid work with part-time study, meaning you can train on the job. It's also possible to apply directly for a sales executive job if you have relevant experience.

Skills

You'll need to have:

• excellent communication, interpersonal and relationship-building skills
• a positive, confident and determined approach
• resilience and the ability to thrive in a competitive, targets-driven environment
• a high degree of self-motivation and ambition
• commercial awareness, negotiation and influencing skills
• strong planning, organisational and time management skills
• the skills to work both independently and as part of a team
• analytical skills, a good level of numeracy and attention to detail
• the ability to multitask, prioritise and make clear decisions
• IT skills, including familiarity with customer relationship management (CRM) systems and digital tools.

You'll also need a full driving licence. Fluency in a foreign language is useful if working for an international company.

Work experience

Having previous sales or telesales experience is useful when applying for jobs. This can be through part-time or vacation work, placements or internships, or even by getting involved in fundraising or promotional work for a charity.

Some larger companies recruit for sales positions as part of their graduate training portfolio, seeking graduates with the potential to become future commercial leaders.

Experience of supporting a sales team, for example in an administrative role, can also be helpful. Any client-facing role where you're dealing with people, such as retail, hospitality or customer service, can be beneficial. Involvement in student societies, enterprise activities or event promotion can also help you develop transferable sales skills.

Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

Employers

Jobs are available in most sectors, so it's important to choose an area that suits your interests and skillset.

Typical sectors include:

• fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) - such as food and drink, dry commodities, tobacco and alcohol
• engineering and technical - including automotive, aerospace, IT, electronics, construction and communications
• business services - such as consulting and advice, training, recruitment, software and cloud-based computing services
• advertising and media - including magazine publishers, radio, television, web and digital platforms
• pharmaceuticals and healthcare - such as medical supplies, devices and services
• financial services - including banks, insurance and investment providers
• property and real estate - including estate agencies, lettings, commercial property and development
• telecommunications and utilities - such as mobile, broadband, data solutions and energy providers
• travel, leisure and charities - income generation through events, fundraising and partnerships.

Look for job vacancies at:

• Clearly Sales Jobs
• eMedCareers - for jobs in pharmaceutical, biotech, medical or healthcare.
• PharmiWeb.com - for jobs in pharmaceutical sales.

The following recruitment agencies also advertise both entry-level and experienced sales vacancies:

• BMS Performance
• Celsius - The Graduate Recruitment Specialists (IT sales roles)
• Randstad
• Pareto (a Randstad company) - runs assessment centres for graduate sales roles.

Professional development

Most new sales executives complete an induction covering the company's products or services and how sales are tracked and recorded. This training may be delivered internally or by an external provider and may also cover activities such as closing sales, handling objections and negotiation activities, for example, as well as the use of customer relationship management (CRM) systems and digital tools.

You may have the chance to shadow an experienced colleague before gradually taking over sales calls, but you'll be expected to start achieving sales targets quickly. In smaller companies, training may be limited to a basic induction, and learning takes place on the job.

If you join a graduate scheme, you'll usually receive structured training lasting up to two years. This may include placements, formal training, mentoring and progress reviews.

Undertaking continuing professional development (CPD) is essential. Professional bodies such as the Institute of Sales Professionals and the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) offer training courses, webinars, events and networking opportunities. You could also consider studying for an MBA.

Career prospects

You'll usually start your career as a junior sales executive. Promotion is strongly results-based, so rapid progress is common for high performers.

With experience and a successful sales track record, you can progress into senior sales executive or account management roles, where you might:

• work with larger or more prestigious client accounts
• take responsibility for key products or territories
• manage national accounts, for example selling to retail buyers or wholesalers
• train and mentor junior colleagues, alongside your own sales activity
• move into a sales manager role with responsibility for a team.

In larger organisations, structured career ladders often lead from sales executive to area sales manager, national sales manager and ultimately sales director. It's quite common to move between companies or regions to achieve promotion or higher earnings.

Specialist routes such as technical sales, international sales or business development are also common. Beyond sales, you could move into training, recruitment or related careers such as advertising, marketing, commercial management or PR.