The one job that rarely features in a list of sought-after careers is that of sales professional. Sadly it is something that many Service leavers will not even consider until they have been outside the Forces for a little while.
Historically, selling has been at the root of the development of civilised society. The subsistence farmer who traded his surplus stock for products he couldn’t make or grow for himself was a salesman. So too were the great sailors and explorers who established global trade links. As the UK’s largest private-sector employer, employing around 3 million people (11% of the UK’s working population), retail has created more jobs than any other sector over the last five years. Some 298,000 businesses take around £290 billion per year. Some sector facts are that:
- Between 2007 and 2017 an extra 214,000 new jobs will be created in the UK’s retail sector; a further 1.2 million jobs will need to be filled as a result of people leaving the sector
- Just over half the workforce are part-time workers
- A third of UK retail workers are aged from 16 to 24
- The sector employs a 60/40 split of men and women
- Average staff turnover is 40%.
The main employment areas in retail are:
- Store operations (management/sales/stocking shelves)
- Human resources/training (personnel/recruitment/training)
- Finance and administration (accounts/credit/audit/procurement)
- Buying (sourcing/purchasing/merchandising)
- Customer contact centres (telephone/SMS/fax/post)
- Marketing (loyalty/brands/events/PR)
- Logistics (movement/handling/storage)
- Information technology (hardware/software/data/security).
Sales are at the very core of any successful organisation. In today’s dynamic and increasingly competitive business environment, the need for highly skilled, professional salespeople is greater than ever. Even organisations in the not-for-profit sector sell – sometimes quite aggressively.
A great emphasis is placed on the quality of a sales person’s relationship with their clients. By working in partnership with clients a professional sales person can ensure that the client–supplier relationship is more mutually beneficial.
In order to succeed in this partnership-centred sales environment, sales people need to understand far more about their customers’ business, particularly where a sale includes ongoing maintenance commitments. They need to be able to think creatively in order to provide their customers with business solutions that are going to make them more effective in their markets.
Selling in the Services
Apart from the Defence and Security Organisation, the successor to the Defence Export Services Organisation, people in the Services rarely become involved in selling; but they do a great deal of buying – from expensive machinery like aircraft and ships at one end of the spectrum to local contracts on operations and exercises abroad. The two functions have many things in common, and nowadays both will often be stakeholders in the other’s business; trying for the deal that satisfies both and will generate repeat business.
Service people also do a great deal of negotiating. Trade-off and compromise are part of such processes; each side starts from its best position and moves, quickly or slowly depending on culture and custom, towards the middle, which is where agreement is possible because there is something for everybody.
Recruiting involves selling, using modern and highly sophisticated sales techniques, and it is probably where the Services are closest to business. They are addressing potential recruits, while in competition with each other for their share of suitable youngsters. Presentation skills are highly practised in the Services, but the gut feeling against selling possessed by many Service people needs to be overcome.
Personal qualities
The list of personal qualities desirable for sales people will surprise nobody, but it is interesting to note that they are virtually the same qualities that people in the Services are supposed to have when they are recruited and that Service life aims to develop. They are:
- Reliability
- Determination
- Self-discipline
- Self-motivation
- Resourcefulness
- Commitment
- Aptitude for teamwork
- A ‘can-do’ attitude.
Employment
There are a number of different areas of sales employment:
- Advertising and media – persuading clients that an advertisement in a publication or on a radio or TV station, or website will be advantageous for them
- Product sales – including medical, pharmaceutical, cars and financial services – selling directly to a customer, to a retailer, wholesaler or manufacturer
- Exhibition sales – using a stand as a form of ‘mobile shop’, often selling to organisations in similar business areas and building relationships with clients
- Retailing – the traditional high-street or corner shops with a general or specific product range
- Door-to-door – a job that still employs people and can involve some excellent products.
Network marketing involves selling products to friends, family and other contacts. Individuals buy products, which may be of high quality, from the supplier and a proportion of the purchase money goes to the person who introduced them to the network. The individuals then form their own ‘downstream’ network by persuading their contacts to sell the products to their contacts, and they in turn receive a proportion of the resultant purchases. The more people each person in the network introduces, the greater the amount of money they will all get from purchases. It is most certainly legal, as opposed to pyramid selling with which it is often confused, and a number of people are very happy doing it; but it is not for everyone and people should understand what they are getting into before joining the network.
Sales functions include:
- Telesales – on the phone all day every day, usually surrounded by others, working in-house or in a call centre where people might be selling insurance one day and cars the next
- Field sales – getting out to meet customers, making visits and presentations, and often organising a schedule to meet individuals’ needs and those of their customers
- Management – when people have earned promotion through their sales record; sales managers may well then take further qualifications to enter general management.
When looking for their first employer, people should ideally choose a company that will offer good training. They may need considerable training before being allowed out on their own – either into the field or on the phone. Early training may well be about sales techniques, the company and product knowledge.
Training and qualifications
Although several sector skills councils are involved with standards and qualifications for sales in their sector, Skillsmart Retail is the one that focuses most closely on the overall sales function. It has developed qualifications at various levels, as follows.
– Introductory Certificate and Diploma in Business, Retail and Administration
– Certificate in Introduction to Retailing
– NVQ in Retail Skills
– Award/Certificate/Diploma in Retail Skills
– Diploma in Fashion Retail
– Certificate in Retail Principles encompassing the following awards:
Legislation for the Retail Environment
Marketing in the Retail Environment
Monitor Retail Operations
Product Range Planning in the Retail Environment
Serving Customers in a Retail Environment
Visual Merchandising
– Certificate and Diploma in Retail Beauty Consultancy
– First Certificate and Diploma in Retail
– Certificate in Retailing
– Certificate in Retail Operations
– NVQ in Retail Skills
– Award/Certificate/Diploma in Retail Skills
– Target Award in Retail Stock Controller
– Target Award for Store Keepers (Goods In)
– Target Award for Customer Service Advisors
– Diploma in Fashion Retail
– Certificate in Visual Merchandising for Retail
– Award in Merchandising, Display and Presentation
– Award in 3D Materials Exploration
– Award in Fashion Display and Presentation
– Award in Model Making and Presentation
– National Award in Retail
– Certificate in Retailing
– Certificate in Retail Operations
– NVQ in Retail
– Certificate and Diploma in Retail (Visual Merchandising)
– Certificate and Diploma in Retail (Sales Professional)
– Certificate and Diploma in Retail (Management)
– Level 4 Diploma in Visual Merchandising
– Level 4 Diploma in Buying & Merchandising
– Level 4 Higher Professional Diploma in Retail Management
– BA/BSc (Hon) in Retail Management
– BA (Hon) in Retail Buying (fashion)
– BSc (Hon) in Retail Buying (textiles)
– BSc (Hon) in Fashion and Textile Retailing
– BSc (Hon) in Fashion Buying
– Foundation Degree in Retailing
– PGC/PGD in Retail Management
– MA International Fashion Retailing
– MA Retail Management
– MBA Retailing
– MSc Retail Management
– MPhil/PhD Retail and Services Management
– MPhil/PhD in Hotel, Tourism and Retail Management
– MPhil/PhD in Consumer and Retail Management.
The Institute of Sales & Marketing Management (ISMM) has a range of professional qualifications:
- Level 1 Award in Basic Sales Skills
- Level 2 Award and Certificate in Sales and Marketing
- Level 3 Award, Certificate and Diploma in Advanced Sales and Marketing
- Level 4 Award, Certificate and Diploma in Operational Sales and Marketing
- Level 5 Award, Certificate and Diploma in Account Management/Sales Management
- Level 5 Diploma in Sales and Account Management
- Level 6 Executive Award, Executive Certificate and Executive Diploma in Strategic Sales and Account Management.
Salaries
Rewards vary enormously. The average wage of a retail sales assistant is £11,000 to £15,000 a year, while that of a retail sales supervisor is £15,000 to £20,000. Retail managers might start on £14,000 to £20,000. An experienced retail manager might attract between £21,000 and £28,000, while the average salary of the retail manager of a large store is £40,000-plus.
Useful contacts
The Institute of Sales and Marketing Management, Harrier Court, Lower Woodside, Bedfordshire LU1 4DQ Tel: 01582 840001 Website: www.ismm.co.uk
Skillsmart Retail Ltd, The Retail Sector Skills Council, 4th Floor, 93 Newman Street, London W1T 3EZ Tel: 020 7462 5060 Website: www.skillsmartretail.com
