Best entry-level sales jobs

The best entry-level sales jobs include sales associate, retail sales representative, and telemarketer. The sales industry is full of great entry-level roles, some even earning commission on sales immediately. Many of these starting points also represent the chance for you to build a solid foundation in the field by gaining essential skills and experience. Here are ten of the best entry-level sales jobs:

1. Sales Associate

   Average Salary: $32,167

   Sales associates are responsible for promoting the company's goods or services. They are expected to provide exceptional customer service to prospective buyers. They should be familiar with all features of the company's products or services so that they can answer the customers' inquiries. Sales associates also assist customers in processing their checkouts, refunds, returns, and other needs. They should be customer-oriented, and they should have great communication skills. They should know how to sell their products or services to customers. They are considered the company's representatives on the ground.

2. Retail Sales Representative

   Average Salary: $37,907

   A retail salesperson's responsibility is to sell products and provide necessary information to the consumers to convince them of availing items. Retail salesperson's duties include coordinating with promotional programs, recommending strategies to increase sales, answering customer's inquiries, and escalating any concerns to the management that might affect the company's sales performance. A retail salesperson must have excellent communication skills to build a good rapport with the customers and assist them with their needs. A retail salesperson also helps with inventories and documenting a customer's suggestion for service improvement.

3. Telemarketer

   Average Salary: $34,911

   A telemarketer is responsible for marketing its goods and services to existing and potential customers, driving revenues, and increasing the business' profitability. Telemarketers sell products through electronic communications, responding to customers' inquiries, handling special requests, and negotiating pricing offers. They also escalate product concerns and complaints to management for immediate resolution. A telemarketer must have comprehensive knowledge of the sales and marketing industry to deliver sales pitches to attract customers. Telemarketers should also have excellent communication skills to maintain a positive interaction with the customers.

4. Business Development Representative (BDR)

5. Account Coordinator

   Average Salary: $39,973

   An account coordinator assists account executives by providing day-to-day administrative support such as preparing and filing sales contracts and reports. As coordinators, they must maintain a good relationship with their clients and vendors by addressing issues and with regular communication. Account coordinators must possess essential skills such as a strong business administration background, adept at both written and verbal communication, and excellent time management. They are also responsible for researching prospective clients and produce client feedbacks to their account management teams.

6. Inside Sales Representative

   Average Salary: $44,413

   An inside sales representative is responsible for selling services and products to clients, driving the company's revenues and increase sales profitability. Duties of an inside sales representative include developing strategic sales pitches, responding to customer's inquiries and requests, offering promotional products and discounts, researching potential clients, creating sales reports, and managing customer's possible complaints. An inside sales representative also provides strategic solutions to share with the sales team to improve their sales performance. Inside sales representatives must have excellent communication and negotiation skills to deal with customers' needs.

7. Customer Service Representative

   Average Salary: $32,260

   Customer service representatives are the first point of contact of the customers, acting as the frontiers of the company and help in driving customer loyalty and retention by leaving a great impression and resolving all of their concerns. They accommodate customer queries by providing useful and comprehensive information about any products or services. Some would use that as an opportunity to market and promote more sales. The most challenging issues they use to handle are customer complaints and processing of refunds and returns. They also assist in basic troubleshooting or accounts and payment setup with the use of specific guidelines or step by step procedures. At most, they help and solve customer issues on their own, but sometimes they would need support from supervisors or other departments.

8. Sales Trainee

   Average Salary: $47,337

   A sales trainee's role is to perform support tasks while under the supervision of a manager or an experienced colleague. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around observing company operations, responding to calls and inquiries, performing follow-up calls, maintaining records of all transactions, updating databases, and reporting to the supervising official. A sales trainee may also perform clerical tasks such as processing documents and organizing supplies. Furthermore, as a trainee, it is essential to learn and adhere to the company's policies and regulations.

9. Sales Development Representative

   Average Salary: $51,504

   A sales development representative qualifies leads at the sales funnel's initial stages. Sales development representatives need to conduct research for prospective clients and qualify the leads before handing them to the sales team. They develop sales strategies to attract buyers or solicit potential customers. They need to build relationships with their customers to determine their needs and qualify the viability of interests to drive sales. Also, they collaborate with the sales executives making certain that corporate targets and goals are met.

10. Lead Generation Specialist