Many people see working in sales as something boring or treat such an occupation as temporary. Wrong: no profession prepares you for business like sales force. It is precisely as a salesman that you will learn to listen to your customers, make contacts and get to know the mechanisms of a company inside out. This is priceless knowledge that pays off!
What Education Do Employers Expect And Which Courses Are Worth Studying?
Working in the FMCG or sales industry offers many opportunities for growth. However, without the right documents, it can be difficult to advance to managerial positions. If you are interested in a career in the retail sector, consider studying marketing, foreign trade, economics or sales management.
Graduates of international relations with a specialisation in trade or finance will also find work within the structures of a trade company. In the FMCG sector, in addition to sales, there is a need for production and quality control specialists. If you are looking for a challenge in this type of company, but not as a sales representative, you will also find something for you.
Your studies will be especially useful for those who are thinking about managerial and executive positions. Both companies with an online sales focus and those with a more traditional approach need employees who are able to manage people and also achieve company goals. For such a role, you not only need soft skills, which you can practise at lower levels of the company structure, but also specific knowledge provided by universities, training courses and already completed projects.
Sales Skills
The already mentioned soft skills, empathy, as well as the art of negotiation or the ability to work under time pressure, are strong assets for most salespeople. In the FMCG sector, but not only there, the ability to work as part of a team and the ability to manage people is also important. In an international environment, cultural sensitivity, tact and the ability to assimilate the rules of an organisation are important.
Why Start In Sales? You Have At Least Four Good Reasons
In Poland, on one of the main portals where employees and employers meet, as many as 36% of all advertisements are for sales jobs.. This shows that the market needs people who are open to new challenges and who are not afraid of contact with customers.
Making fun of ‘how about some fries to go with that’, an element of a McDonald’s campaign, may make someone laugh, but a person like you knows that it’s cross-selling and therefore extra income for the company. Does anyone seriously joke about the opportunity to make extra money?
Sales Is All About Learning To Listen
In the course of your work as a salesman, you will meet customers. Whether you offer wholesale cured meats, IT software or financial services, human contact is required. You need to learn how to talk and, above all, how to listen to the needs of potential customers.
What problems do they face? What do they find challenging? If your product or service can help solve their difficulties, you will certainly find many customers. Efforts will translate into sales results, which in turn will translate into attractive remuneration and bonuses. Because who said that in sales you have to work for a predetermined rate?
Remember that the ability to listen is invaluable, especially at the interface of different backgrounds and cultures. Working in foreign trade is an interesting job that allows you to get to know people from different corners of the world. However, it requires you to be tactful and able to find your way around new realities, as well as learning how to communicate with counterparts in different countries.
If you dream of working in an international environment, especially in the financial industry, then Joseph Wancer’s My Wayis worth reading. He is a well-known banker who left Poland and started his career at the American Citibank.
At one time, he also worked in Japan and carried out interesting projects in Poland. These include participating in the transformation of the banking system after the fall of communism, managing the BPH bank with great success or introducing the BNP Paribas brand to the Polish market. This is an invaluable source of knowledge also for those outside the industry.
Get To Know The Company And Its Products
Find out how the company you work for works, what its values are and how it operates on a day-to-day basis. Your task will also be to get to know the ins and outs of the products on offer.
It is good if you know practically everything about the product range. Then there will be no awkward silences, no customer insecurity and, even less so, no situation in which you help yourself by telling untruths to save face. The better prepared you are, the more confident and effective you will be.
Finding your own way to seek out key information about the organisation pays off quickly. Once you have changed jobs, you will easily find your way around the new realities, settle in smoothly and go on the offensive.
Understanding the business, the specifics of the various departments and the relationships between employees will make it easier for you to communicate and achieve your goals. Remember that customers are not only on the outside of the company, but also on the inside. You will also have to sell your raise proposal to your boss, and this is another valuable exercise.
Build Your Network Of Contacts
Foreign trade, online sales or maybe FMCG? Whatever the specifics of your job, you are always trading with people. All contacts may come in handy at some point, but it’s not just about business.
Networking is more than collecting business cards. It is a form of relationship that simply needs to be nurtured and maintained. It doesn’t always have to be about going out to dinner together, but a regular exchange of emails, video calls or a chat on the phone are essential elements of building and maintaining a network.
Networking is engaging, but it often comes in handy. Remember, however, not to focus only on yourself or pushily promote your goods or services. Others also want to talk about their problems, make an offer or discuss the weekend’s Premier League fixtures.
Sometimes you will recommend the services of your networking friend, and other times someone will recommend your products. The aim of networking is to build mutual relationships that enable you to exchange information, knowledge and experience. Among this group, you are bound to find your potential customers too.
Job Security
Something is said to be certain as in the bank. This means that there is a very high probability of a phenomenon occurring or the formulation confirms a fact. The same is true for jobs in commerce. The already mentioned 36% of offers on the largest job portal are a veritable paradise for you. You can choose from among the proposals, and the higher your competence and more experience you have, the more attractive the potential salary will prove to be.
Is a university degree necessary for a sales job? It depends on what you want to do in life. If you dream of working in a local environment, a university degree is not required at the lower levels.
On the other hand, if you are interested in overseas trading, it is worth thinking about getting a university degree. The advantage of British universities is that their graduates have many more opportunities to find interesting jobs than their counterparts from Poland, Germany or France.
Retail, Sales And FMCG Won’t Disappear. Do Jobs In This Sector Have A Future?
The answer to this question is ‘yes’! Traditional trade and the ever-growing online sales are markets that will certainly not disappear. The exchange of goods has been taking place since the dawn of time. The better someone is at his or her trade, the better he or she earns and is quickly promoted, a tempting prospect that attracts many people to trade.
Today, the market is looking for employees for retail companies at virtually every level. There is a need for salespeople, cashiers, as well as shop managers or sales directors at head office. Your natural skills will help you find your way in the industry, and a university degree will open the door to even more interesting and better-paid positions.
Want to know more about how university will help you in your career development? Write or call us,we’ll be happy to give you a hint! We will also help you with the formalities of applying to universities. Don’t have a high school diploma? No problem! What matters is your desire to achieve your goal, and we can help you do that.
