A Career in Professional Selling
A Career in Professional Selling
Just as a symphony relies on specialized roles – conductors, violinists, percussionists, and flutists – sales teams are made up of distinct and unique positions such as new business development (hunters), account managers (farmers), inside sales, solution architects, and more. And, just like in an orchestra, not everyone can play multiple instruments with the same level of skill.
The key to successful selection in sales lies in identifying the competencies and behaviors that statistically differentiate top performers from lower performers for each specific role – ensuring that every “instrument” contributes to a balanced, effective performance.
Account Management
The Account Management role grows sales to existing accounts by increasing sales to current buyers and/or expanding sales through new buyers within the account. Account Managers are tasked with building customer relationships, meeting or exceeding customer needs, and making it easy to do business with their company. Key activities include account planning and partnering with internal support networks to facilitate special requests, even in off hours.
Consultative Solution Sales
The Consultative Solution Sales role is responsible for growing sales within a territory/market by finding new customers and servicing existing ones – usually a 70/30 ratio. They are tasked with selling their firm’s full array of products by identifying problems and devising solutions that address them. Key activities include conducting a thorough needs analysis with multiple buyers and configuring appropriate solutions to meet them. A typical sales process can take up to 6 months or more.
Inbound Inside Sales
The Inbound Inside Sales role responds to contact initiated by customers over the phone or via electronic communication. Sellers in these roles are tasked with gaining an understanding of the caller’s needs or requirements and quickly identifying the appropriate actions to move the opportunity towards a sale, meeting, or other relevant outcome. In some cases, they may be responsible for taking orders and maximizing sales of products by up-selling and cross-selling and may have a quota.
Individual Contributor
The Individual Contributor role is a professional staff member who serves as a team leader but does not manage others. They prefer to stay within their discipline to increase the depth of their expertise in managing processes or projects rather than people. Key responsibilities include consistently producing anticipated results, taking initiative, developing competence, prioritizing tasks, and solving problems.
New Product Field Sales
The New Product Field Sales role is responsible for maximizing sales within a territory/market by finding new customers and servicing existing ones. The mix of revenue from new business to existing business can be as much as 70/30. With a typical sales cycle of six months to one year, these sellers are tasked with understanding the needs of multiple buyers within an organization (who may have little experience with the seller’s products) and building a solid business case for the sale.
Relationship Product Sales
The Relationship Product Sales role is responsible for acquiring new customers and servicing existing ones within an assigned territory/market – usually a 20/80 ratio of new to existing business. They sell the full array of products to buyers who are reasonably expert at using them. They are tasked with advocating for, and providing good service to, their customers, building strong relationships through regular contact and growing sales by uncovering additional buyers within the account and seeking referrals.
Sales Management
The Sales Management role is responsible more for building the quality and productivity of salespeople than for managing customers and is driven by the team’s success. They are tasked with hiring, developing, motivating, and coaching individual sellers while controlling the focus, direction, and performance of the team. Key activities include product/service and sales training, managing the team, monitoring sales projections and budgets, and championing new initiatives.
Specialized Solution Sales
The Specialized Solution Sales role is responsible for growing sales of systems or solutions that require significant customization and training to implement. They often support sales of a specific subset of solutions and provide extensive technical expertise to configure the solution. They are typically resident experts who work with the sales team to sell to prospects or existing customers and are not typically bound by territorial, industry, or vertical market constraints.
Strategic Account Director
The Strategic Account Director role is responsible for large, multi-site accounts – usually once a deal has been closed at the corporate level. People in these roles coordinate the execution of the sales agreement for various customer locations. Key activities include meeting with executives and discussing the business case that represents their competitive advantage. Post-sale implementation is also a key responsibility to ensure endusers in the various customer locations receive consistent benefits.
Consultant
The Consultant role refers to high-level experts who are responsible for collaborating with sales teams to develop strategies that improve business outcomes for customers. Often referred to as trusted advisors or business architects, they understand their customer’s business, strategies, and key initiatives and focus on delivering the business value of their solutions. They win the trust of their clients and confidence in their solutions by demonstrating expert-level product and industry knowledge.
Customer Service Representative
The Customer Service Representative role is responsible for fielding inquiries and complaints from existing customers in order to promote and/or restore customer satisfaction. They are tasked with treating each encounter as unique, demonstrating concern and empathy for problems without becoming defensive, and for providing solutions.
Indirect Sales
The Indirect Sales role is responsible for supporting a network of distributors, agents, value added resellers, or manufacturer’s representatives. They have little direct authority over these sales forces except in rare cases where they are under contract to sell only their products or services. As a result, they are tasked with training and motivating distribution partners through joint calls, promotions, and/or special bonuses.
New Business Development
The New Business Development role brings in business from new accounts. Individuals in these roles are often referred to as “hunters.” New business developers are tasked with generating new leads and discovering novel ways to apply their products and services. People in this type of role have little post-sale contact. They turn their recently closed business over to colleagues who deliver and maintain the account, so they are free to continue their quest for new customers.
Outbound Inside Sales
The Outbound Inside Sales role is responsible for initiating phone/email contact with prospects and customers to sell assigned products/services, and often have a quota. In some organizations, there may be levels of specialization where inside sales may work with small customers that cannot be profitably serviced by the field sales force. Alternatively, other organizations may use these types of roles for cold-calling and scheduling appointments for outside salespeople.
Relationship Solution Sales
The Relationship Solution Sales role is responsible for acquiring new customers and servicing existing ones within an assigned territory/market – usually 20/80 ratio of new to existing business. The emphasis is on maintaining and growing sales within existing accounts by identifying additional needs and other departments/functions within the customer organization who can benefit from their solution. They are tasked with strengthening relationships with multiple constituents within assigned accounts and for advocating on their behalf, making it easy to do business with their firm.
Sales Team Lead
The Sales Team Lead role consists of both supervisory and sales responsibilities. They supervise a team of sellers, while carrying their own book of business. In some organizations, team leaders are considered “super-salespeople.” They typically do not have responsibility for hiring and performance management but serve as the first point of contact for seller questions and day-to-day support.
Specialized Technical Sales
The Specialized Solution Sales role is responsible for growing sales of systems or solutions that require significant customization and training to implement. They often support sales of a specific subset of solutions and provide extensive technical expertise to configure the solution. They are typically resident experts who work with the sales team to sell to prospects or existing customers and are not typically bound by territorial, industry, or vertical market constraints.
Transactional Product Sales
The Strategic Account Director role is responsible for large, multi-site accounts – usually once a deal has been closed at the corporate level. People in these roles coordinate the execution of the sales agreement for various customer locations. Key activities include meeting with executives and discussing the business case that represents their competitive advantage. Post-sale implementation is also a key responsibility to ensure endusers in the various customer locations receive consistent benefits.
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