The wide range of responsibilities and industries involved in sales careers is reflected in the wide array of job titles. It is anyone selling something, whether it is a product or a service, that is considered a salesperson, and as businesses attempt to differentiate themselves from the competition, the job titles are frequently altered to reflect new duties. The topic is ‘Sales Title Hierarchy List’.
If you are searching on internet job boards, you will likely encounter an array of titles that can make it challenging to navigate. Taking into account the most common sales job titles and the job market for those positions is also critical when doing an online sales job search.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates that jobs will grow between 5 percent and 9 percent from 2016 to 2026, but employment in sales-related positions will only grow by 3 percent. This means the field is expected to grow at a slower rate than average.
It is not necessary to have a college degree for many sales jobs but it will make things easier for you if you do have one. The following listings are some popular job titles found in a sales career if you are looking to start your career in this industry.
Job titles
National sales director
A national sales director sets broad sales goals and objectives for all offices throughout the nation. In this case, the plans need to be flexible, so local or regional offices can make necessary adjustments to accommodate local conditions. Clear and measurable objectives are still imperative in this scenario.
Those appointed to this position work closely with regional sales directors to ensure sales goals are met and plans are followed properly. A strategic and tactical approach to sales must also be coordinated with marketing.
The average salary of a national sales director, according to payscale.com, is more than $100,000. They are also typically expected to possess a bachelor’s degree in a related field and several years of experience as well.
Chief Revenue Officer
The sales job titles pyramid usually starts with the Chief Revenue Officer at the top. Sales, marketing, and other departments are overseen by the Chief Revenue Officer.
In a company, the chief revenue officer plays a vital role in the marketing, sales, and client acquisition of new customers and clients, as well as the partnership strategy. When an organization hires a new CRO, it says, “Our organization needs someone passionate about growing business.”
A company may need a chief revenue officer as it develops, and that person will be in charge of driving revenue to the company in all aspects. Chief Revenue Officers earn an average salary of $190,989, according to PayScale.
Regional sales manager
Local sales managers within the same general region are typically overseen by a regional sales manager. A retail manager might work in a retail or non-retail environment, and the size of a company’s region may vary.
As part of their work, this person will work closely with the sales managers at local stores and offices within the region. The corporate sales team helps implement corporate-wide sales plans and assures they are complied with and the corporate sales objectives are achieved.
Their responsibilities may include overseeing major accounts within a region in non-retail settings.
Payscale.com estimates that as of 2019, this position has an average salary of just under $80,000. Those with substantial sales experience may be considered without a bachelor’s degree, however, most employers favor candidates with one.
Account Executive (AE)
An account executive typically needs to have a more in-depth understanding of the product or service. The difference between an AE and a Territory Manager is that they generally sell a service, rather than a product. Demonstrating their products and creating presentations to prospects is critical; identifying buying barriers, developing personalized value propositions, negotiating terms, and closing sales must also be accomplished.
Demonstrating to prospects and presenting presentations, reviewing contracts, and negotiating deals are some of their responsibilities.
Territory Sales Manager
Account Executives also have similar responsibilities to Territory Sales Managers, however, the latter is responsible for managing a specific area/territory for a company and acting as a liaison between the company’s headquarters and their presence in that area. They are primarily responsible for increasing the volume of sales in the assigned territory.
A typical responsibility of an account manager is to research competition, plan territory expansion, and manage all of the accounts assigned by the supervisor. Ensure that your proposals align with customer needs by providing them with a consultative approach and well-formulated proposals.
Sales account advisors
A sales advisor’s responsibilities are to develop, plan, and execute the company’s sales strategy. It is usually not their job to be inside the company. Instead, they act as outside advisors.
The firm has experience in implementing sales strategies and sales campaigns for multiple years. The main responsibility of this position is to learn the company’s products and services offerings, features, and pricing and set up sales department KPIs. Establish communication with clients to learn about their selling goals and objectives, identify the bottlenecks and inconsistencies in current sales processes.
Account Sales Consultant
Sales consultants help their companies’ sales departments develop long-term relationships with customers. Accountants may assist in improving and strengthening existing accounts or cultivating new customer relationships. Among their responsibilities are performing market research, auditing sales billings, and developing revenue-generating strategies for the sales department
As a part of the job, you may be responsible for processing billing paperwork and ensuring all accounts are paid at the end of every month, every quarter, and every year.
Sales Manager
Various industries fall under the title of sales manager, both retail and non-retail. Local media outlets that sell advertising, such as newspapers, radio stations, or television stations, are examples of non-retail settings.
In addition to overseeing sales staff, implementing sales strategies, and meeting sales goals, the sales manager is also responsible for hiring, training, and motivating them. Usually, the sales manager works with a regional sales manager if the company has multiple locations, or even at larger companies. Account managers are often involved with the largest, most important, or most sensitive accounts in a specific location.
According to payscale.com, sales managers earned an average of $53,000 annually as of 2020.
Inside Sales Representative
Those involved in inside sales who handle walk-in customers and take phone calls from prospective customers are called inside sales representatives.
Regardless of the industries represented, good customer service skills are a must regardless of the products being sold. It is necessary for the person in this position to greet potential customers, explain which product or service is right for them, and close the deal.
Based on a survey of payscale.com, inside sales reps make about $42,000 annually on average as of 2020.
Outside Sales Representative
A representative from your company’s outside sales team actively seeks new clients either by phone or in person, and the work can encompass a diverse range of industries. Outside sales representatives generally have a list of accounts they maintain and contact regularly, in addition to seeking new clients.
Outside sales representatives spend much of their time visiting clients instead of being in a cubicle all day. Although most sales reps limit their travel to the area around their home office or to the city they work in.
Like an inside sales rep, someone in this position must possess excellent communication skills and be able to effectively communicate with clients.
A salary of about $48,000 was reported by payscale.com for outside sales representatives in 2020.
Sales Assistant
Assisting sales managers and sales representatives in their duties, sales assistants typically perform a diverse range of tasks.
The duties of sales assistants may be mostly clerical, but they also help research and identify potential clients, prepare sales presentations, and sometimes act as customer service representatives for existing clients.
Depending on the industry and the responsibilities of sales assistants, pay for sales assistants varies quite a bit. Although entry-level sales assistant positions may pay less, those with more responsibilities can earn more. A payscale.com estimate from 2020 indicates that salaries averaged $38,000 a year.
Telemarketer
As a telemarketer, you call prospective customers and sell them products or services over the phone, either through your employer’s call center or through a third-party firm. Telephone salespeople are responsible for contacting ‘prospects’ that have been provided with leads from a company’s marketing department. The majority of telemarketers have never met with their customers face-to-face. Therefore, a good telephone demeanor is important, as is the ability to convince consumers to make a purchase.
Most companies depend on the sales and profits generated by telemarketers, which makes them the backbone of the industry. Throughout the world, telemarketing is one of the best-paying industries and employs millions of people.
Each telemarketer has a personality. The enterprising type of person usually has the following characteristics: adventurous, ambitious, assertive, extroverted, energetic, enthusiastic, confident, and optimistic. Their traits include dominance, influence, and motivation. The national average salary for Telemarketing is $30,028 per year in the United States according to glassdoor.
Sales Engineer
A sales engineer sells products specifically designed for a specific market or industry. It is commonly necessary to have detailed knowledge of how these complicated products work before selling them since they are often related to manufacturing, science, or other complex fields. To qualify for a position as a sales engineer, you are required to have a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the median pay in 2021 amounted to just over $110,000.
Wholesale and Manufacturing Sales
Similar to sales engineers, sales professionals in this field sell less technical products. The products they sell tend to require less technical know-how to use. Regardless, this job still requires selling products on behalf of manufacturers or wholesalers to businesses and government agencies, among others.
A 5-percent growth rate is projected for the field, which is within the range of average for all occupations. Approximately $65,000 was the median salary, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data for 2021.
Retail Sales
The retail industry encompasses everything related to serving customers. In many job descriptions, the salaries or wages are based on an hourly wage, while commissions are part of or in whole.
In this area, there is a mix of job titles used to describe the job. There are many job titles used for sales jobs, including sales representative, sales associate, and sales consultant. When the word sales are used, it is sometimes followed by the word retail.
Even positions listed as assistant store managers usually represent sales positions. With few exceptions, retail outlets consider all full-time employees supervisors-in-training, so a title that contains “store” is likely to be related to retail sales.
Sales Operations Manager
It is the responsibility of the Sales Operations Manager to ensure that all data in the CRM is accurate, standard, and complete. They also maintain the CRM and other platforms and integrations to ensure they are dependable and efficient. Then the team analyzes the data acquired through the CRM and provides sales and marketing with insights and feedback.
Among their responsibilities are managing lead generation tools, providing administrative and operational support, and auditing SQL databases every month. Among the other responsibilities, reviewing, monitoring, analyzing, and communicating the performance of each market to sales management, as well as identifying potential opportunities for process, automation, and analysis improvements.
Conclusion
The responsibilities and job titles within a sales department vary greatly from company to company, and this blog only scratches the surface of what can be done there. Keeping doing it as you did before will not only work but will also save you money!
It is crucial for sales success that data, especially accurate and complete contact and account information, is accurate. Since every company is different, this blog only touches upon a fraction of potential sales positions and responsibilities. Keep doing it this way if your company does it differently and it works!
Regardless of what role a salesperson plays, data and accurate contact and account information play a crucial role in the success of their business.
