What would a sales role actually involve?

When people think of sales they often think ‘Wolf of Wall Street’, but believe it or not - not all sales roles are like this! The sales team is key to company success and most companies, big or small, will have one. Deliveroo rely on their sales team to find new restaurants to onboard and Facebook for example, may rely on their sales team to find new advertisers to partner with!

Meritocratic Environment

One of the biggest attractions for many people starting their career in sales is the meritocratic environment, which means that you are directly rewarded for your hard work. This is quite unique to a sales environment and is relevant to both the money you can earn and how quickly your career can progress.

The Role: Sales Development, Business Development, Account Executive and Account Management

Typically you will start your career as a Sales Development Representative (SDR) and it will be your job to set up the initial meeting with a potential client!

• Research LinkedIn, websites, etc to find the best businesses/people to contact
• Reach out to these contacts through a call, LinkedIn, video message, email, etc and sell them the benefits of a meeting
• Get a meeting booked in (for the BDM or AE to attend and complete the sale).
• Could be making up to 50-100 outreach**/**calls a day as many people won’t be available to talk (this sounds a lot but it would only take 10 mins if you hit a voicemail 10 times in a row...)

Business Development Manager (BDM): A step up from an SDR role, still ****responsible for booking meetings, but also attending these meetings and closing the deal! This is the full sales cycle (also known as a 360 cycle).

Account Manager (AM): You are passed on clients from the BDM and look after them from here. It is up to you to retain and manage the relationship and upsell where you can too!

Account Executive (AE): A combination of an BDM  and Account Manager. You are responsible to bringing in new business but also managing these clients when they are onboard. It is up to you to retain and manage the relationship and upsell where you can too!

Earning potential: Average overall earning of around £32-35k in your first year