Helping you find a career in the sales industry
If you consider yourself to be a strong communicator, maybe even a bit of a smooth-talker, a career in the sales industry could be the ideal path for you. As a school-leaver an apprenticeship is perfect to help you develop the skills for a successful career - and be earning money while you do it!
Sales offers a huge range of work because virtually every sector relies upon it in some way. Some examples of areas of sales include:
- Telesales
- Media sales
- Product sales
- FMCG This means that there's room to choose something that truly interests you and you are passionate about. It also means that the transferable skills that you'll develop as a salesperson can pave the way for a hugely varied career.
There are two main types of sales roles: Business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). B2B is more corporate and involves selling to companies who may use the service or sell it on themselves. B2C means you are selling directly to the individual who is going to use that product.
Although your communication skills are key, the industry welcomes a huge range of personalities and communications styles because, well, there isn't a one size fits all when it comes to closing a sale. A salesroom will be full of all different kinds of people and with an apprenticeship programme you'll be given structured training to help you bring out the best of your skills and sell whichever product or service that you're working for.
For most companies, sales are at the very heart of the business. For this reason, there's usually no shortage of opportunities and if you have the right skills, you'll do well. Sales is often a performance-based role too, which means that on top of your salary you are likely to earn a commission based on how much you sell and what your targets are. If you fancy being in control of how much money you can earn and thrive in target-driven environments, you should check out some of our sales apprenticeships.
The sales industry is undergoing a huge shift with the rise in e-commerce and much of the work can be done digitally. While there are still some roles that will require travel to attend conferences and meet with clients, much sales work can be done over the phone or through digital communications.