This post presents complete information on the salesman job description and career, including the key tasks, duties, and responsibilities they commonly perform.
It presents ideas on how to become a salesman, and the requirements you might be asked to fulfill to be hired for the salesman’s job.
What Does a Salesman Do?
A salesman or salesperson is the one who has the responsibility for selling a company’s products or services to the public.
Whatever the product type, the role of the salesperson in the firm is to interact with customers and ensure they make an order.
According to Onetonline, the salesman job, which is similar to that of the retail salesperson, involves greeting customers and finding out what they want, as well as helping them to select and locate the right merchandise.
Company’s involved in the production and sales of items such as computers, cars, vans, tires, and commercial real estate require the position of the salesman to be set up in the organization, to be responsible for generating sales for the company.
The salesman works under the supervision of the sales manager and report to him or her.
To succeed as a salesman, you should have a personality that is trustworthy. This will make customers to rely on you to make their purchasing decision.
You should be able to understand what your customers actually desire by interacting and asking them relevant questions.
The salesman job description involves all tasks and activities that enable the individual to sell the company’s products effectively.
There may be some variations in the job description from one industry to another; however, they are basically the same.
Salesman Job Description Sample/Example/Template
Here are some duties, tasks, and responsibilities a salesman will be expected to perform as part of his/her job description:
- Maintain and develop friendship with the company’s existing customers by ensuring regular contact with them through meetings, speaking with them on the phone, and also communicating with them by email
- Pay visit to prospective customers in assigned locations to answer their questions and resolve whatever issues they may be having about the company’s products, and to ask for new orders
- Compile customer and market information useful for planning and executing sales
- Build prospective customer list from business directories, colleagues in the industry, and industry contacts, to use as lead in recruiting new customers and making new sales
- Negotiate issues such as price variation, product delivery, and specifications with managers
- Discuss special promotions with managers and provide advice on upcoming product design and development
- Collaborate with product suppliers to ensure existing orders are delivered
- Ensure goods on display in the showroom are of good quality
- Document all order information and purchases and send copies to the manager at the close of work
- Periodically review sales achievements for the purpose of improving future performance
- Strive towards having better understanding of customers and their requirements so as to be able to advice them in making better purchasing decision
- Ensure cost calculations are accurate and provide quotations and credit terms to customers
- Introduce company’s products to customers while emphasizing products’ strongest features.
Download this job description template.
Salesman Requirements: Skills, Abilities, Knowledge for Career Success
Here are important requirements you may be asked to fulfill to be hired for the role of a salesman, which are also needed to succeed on the job and career:
- Educational Qualification: To qualify for the position of a salesman, the individual may be required to possess a degree. However, this is not always the case as the qualification demanded by the employer depends on the peculiarity of the position with each employer. Some employers may require a high school diploma or its equivalent.
- Communication Skills: To be effective on the job, the salesperson should possess excellent skills in communication and the ability to relate cordially with other people so as to be able to negotiate with potential buyers and close sales, relate with contractors, consultants, and other people that are important to selling the company’s products.
- Planning and Organization: The salesman should also have excellent skills in planning and organizing events, and keeping their work environment clean and tidy.
- Knowledge of Company Products: They should possess thorough knowledge of the company’s products, design and usage. This will enable them to answer potential customers’ questions convincingly at anytime.
- Knowledge of Basic Math: The salesman should be able to make simple calculations, such as interest, discounts, percentages, and proportions. These kinds of figures are usually encountered in the course of selling items. Customers may want to know what their discounts will amount to and how much they will actually be charged if the company is offering a certain percentage discount on a product. The ability to quickly perform the calculation and provide the answer will be greatly needed.
Salesman Employment
The 2023 employment figure for retail salespersons, including salesman, is 3,684,740, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS.
The top industries for employment for retail salespeople are general merchandise retailers, 621,100, clothing and clothing accessories retailers, 492,610, and building material and supplies dealers, 423,960.
Salesman Salary
The average salary for retail salespersons in 2023, according to U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics report is $17.64 per hour and $36,690 annually.
Also, according to BLS, motor vehicle body and trailer manufacturing pay $34.25 hourly and $71,240 yearly; automobile dealers, $29.99 hourly and $62,380 yearly; and motor vehicle parts manufacturing, $29.60 hourly and $61,570 yearly, are some of the highest paying industries to retail salespersons, including salesman in the United States.
Conclusion
This post has provided detailed information on the duties, tasks, and responsibilities that commonly make up a salesman job description.
It has also presented the major requirements that candidates for the salesman role are usually asked to meet to be hired for the job.
Individuals interested in a career in sales will find this article helpful in learning about what a salesman does, to decide if it’s a career they want to go for.
Also, employers needing to make a job description for the salesman position will find this article useful.
They can actually apply the sample job description provided on this page in making one for their companies.
