One of the most important positions in a company is that of sales advisor. The sales team is the engine of the company because it generates revenue and, at the same time, it is an image vector in communicating with customers. In order to understand what this position entails, it is necessary to study the job description and the skills required. Regardless of the field in which a company operates, they contain a number of common elements.

What is a sales consultant? Job description

Perhaps the term "job description" has a more technical and sometimes formal connotation, but if it is implemented in the work and does not remain just a set of wishes in a Word file, it has an extremely important role. Clearly defining the role and responsibilities of a person working in sales calibrates the expectations of the employee with those of the employer and is the basis for identifying the right people for the job.

There are certain elements of a sales advisor's job description that have remained unchanged over time and others that have changed considerably in recent years, with the digitalization and diversification of forms of communication. Some of the responsibilities have remained unchanged and are needed today as much as they were decades ago or even when the first forms of commerce appeared in ancient times. Here are the key activities included in a job description:

- Identifying and contracting potential clients targeted by the company according to weekly targets (telephone, meetings);
- Knowing the products and services offered by the company in order to present them persuasively to customers;
- Promoting the company's values and image in customer relations;
- Providing advice to customers in order to choose the right solution;
- Preparing technical proposals and commercial offers according to company standards and policies and presenting them to customers;
- Assisting and monitoring the sales process until completion;
- Maintaining a good relationship with clients after the transaction is completed and developing a long-term partnership;
- Producing sales reports and using specific company tools for customer base management, activity planning and invoicing;
- Growing and updating the customer database through proactive sales actions according to the activity objectives set with the sales manager to achieve the target.

If the sales advisor position is in a store or showroom, the person will not have to proactively contact customers and set up meetings, but will most likely have in the job description activities such as receiving certain products, arranging products on the shelf or in the showroom, or placing orders to the warehouse when the stock of certain products is low.

However, the job of sales consultant has not remained static in terms of responsibilities. Some of the activities that have made their way into the job description in recent years, in certain fields of activity, are:

- managing customer requests on social media or on the integrated chat on the company website;
- Attending networking meetings to promote company brands and identify potential clients and business partners;
- setting up online meetings using Zoom or Microsoft Teams with current and potential customers to promote the company's products and services;
- interacting with target audiences at company events to educate the market and promote the brand;
- giving presentations and practical demonstrations of product use to potential customers who register on the company's website.

Thus, even though the description may be slightly different depending on the field and as the world changes new responsibilities arise, the essence of the duties is clear and always refers to advising customers and maintaining a relationship with them both before and after the completion of a transaction.

What does sales advisor mean? Here are the necessary skills!

Once the job description is established and the responsibilities are clear, it is useful to draw up a "sketch" of the ideal candidate for such a job, in terms of the skills needed to carry out these activities.

Defining competencies is useful from the recruitment process. An interview where the employer only asks questions like "where do you see yourself in 5 years?" is not really relevant. In addition to getting to know the candidate, it is useful for a future sales advisor to go through practical tests to prove their native and/or acquired talents that correspond to the set of competences needed to perform in this role.

Then, clearly defined competencies are useful in the integration process in the sales team, where it is important to have a training process for each skill and a way of testing whether the person has integrated the new competency.

It is essential that these competencies are specific. A general competency such as assertive communication with customers can be broken down into micro-skills such as: formulating a message on LinkedIn, phone calls that have a 20% conversion rate into meetings etc. Basically, the newcomer to the team will have a clear and measurable perspective on the fit with the job.

Based on the competencies, a career plan for the sales consultant can be built, ensuring a high level of motivation and a personal and professional development path. Here are the main trending competencies for sales advisors internationally, according to a 2020 Gallup Institute study:- abilitatea de a crea rapid conexiuni;

- Ability to make connections quickly;
- persuasive product and service presentation skills;
- emotional intelligence in handling objections and complaints;
- empathy and helpfulness;
- ability to adapt to change;
- assertive communication;
- resilience and working under uncertainty (probably in 2022 will climb to the top);
- critical thinking and problem solving;
- public speaking skills.

We invite you to take inspiration from this classification and concretely define how each competency materializes for the sales advisor role in your organization or, if you are a candidate, identify if you fit the role and how you can train yourself to be better and not settle for less.

In order to prepare for such a job or to improve your skills, if you already hold this position, you can participate in sales training and courses organized by our team, Brightway®. Telesales & Customer Service, B2B/B2C Sales Techniques, B2C Consultative Sales Techniques, Customer Care or Negotiation and Persuasion. Each of these will help you build a successful career!