What does a direct sales agent do?
A direct sales agent is primarily responsible for introducing and selling products or services to clients in a particular area. Aiming to reach sales quotas, they typically conduct market research and analysis, generate leads, and develop sales strategies to build positive client relationships. They reach out directly to clients through calls or face-to-face interactions, discuss product specifications or promos, negotiate contracts, and demonstrate products when necessary. They are also responsible for processing client orders and payments, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction.
Direct sales agent responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real direct sales agent resumes:
- Increase customer understanding of Comcast products and pricing models as well as competitive advantage over other service providers.
- Produce call reports and CRM dashboards.
- Demonstrate strong understanding of Comcast products, promoting and selling offerings to individual customers by knocking every door within assign territories.
- Contact new and existing customers to discuss how TWC products can meet their needs.
- Maintain a professional, respectful, and helpful demeanor as a representative of TWC.
- Communicate ongoing contact activity utilizing Salesforce.com.
Direct sales agent skills and personality traits
We calculated that 25% of Direct Sales Agents are proficient in Customer Service, Medicare, and Health Insurance. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Math skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Direct Sales Agents that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 25%
Processed orders and demonstrated effective problem solving skills in a high volume customer service capacity for Clorox Delivery Exceptions Team.
- Medicare, 15%
Qualified, educated and enrolled Medicare prospects into SCAN Medicare Advantage plans.
- Health Insurance, 12%
Responded to inbound callers inquiring about purchasing individual medical health insurance.
- Direct Sales, 11%
Direct sales, inventory control, visual merchandising, housekeeping, security, administration and compliance to company policies/procedures.
- Underwriting Process, 6%
Cultivate positive, personal relationships with insurers to ensure understanding and comfort with underwriting process.
- Product Knowledge, 5%
Performed new hire certifications upon completion of training determine comprehension of product knowledge and department procedures.
"customer service," "medicare," and "health insurance" are among the most common skills that direct sales agents use at work. You can find even more direct sales agent responsibilities below, including:
Detail oriented. One of the key soft skills for a direct sales agent to have is detail oriented. You can see how this relates to what direct sales agents do because "investment bankers must pay close attention to the details of initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions because small changes can have large consequences." Additionally, a direct sales agent resume shows how direct sales agents use detail oriented: "performed routine and detailed risk assessment on new business policies to ascertain eligibility for & placement within aaa insurance policy types. "
Math skills. Many direct sales agent duties rely on math skills. "securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents need to be familiar with mathematical tools, including investment formulas.," so a direct sales agent will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways direct sales agent responsibilities rely on math skills: "presented property evaluations of real estate comps, demographics, and statistics. "
Analytical skills. This is an important skill for direct sales agents to perform their duties. For an example of how direct sales agent responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "to judge the profitability of potential deals, securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents must have strong analytical skills." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a direct sales agent: "analyze budgets and actual sales numbers to determine compliance with targeted sales quotas. ".
Initiative. direct sales agent responsibilities often require "initiative." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents must create their own client base by making “cold” sales calls to people to whom they have not been referred and to people not expecting the call." This resume example shows what direct sales agents do with initiative on a typical day: "formulated company wide sales techniques through pre-product launch initiatives. "
Customer-service skills. A commonly-found skill in direct sales agent job descriptions, "customer-service skills" is essential to what direct sales agents do. Direct sales agent responsibilities rely on this skill because "securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents must be persuasive and make clients feel comfortable with the agent’s recommendations." You can also see how direct sales agent duties rely on customer-service skills in this resume example: "direct sales representative - acquired new cable, phone and internet customers by visiting potential customers in their homes. "
The three companies that hire the most direct sales agents are:
- Elevance Health
19 direct sales agents jobs
- Windstream10 direct sales agents jobs
- Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC
7 direct sales agents jobs
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Compare different direct sales agents
Direct sales agent vs. Sales/marketing
Among the responsibilities of working in sales and marketing is to reach out to clients to achieve sales targets and secure customer satisfaction. It is also essential to come up and develop strategies to obtain sales and find new opportunities that will strengthen the client base and improve the company's brand and image. Furthermore, working in sales and marketing requires coordination with team members and superiors, so it is vital to have an active line of coordination and communication.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, direct sales agent responsibilities require skills like "medicare," "health insurance," "underwriting process," and "sales tools." Meanwhile a typical sales/marketing has skills in areas such as "digital marketing," "business development," "facebook," and "instagram." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
The education levels that sales/marketing earn slightly differ from direct sales agents. In particular, sales/marketing are 2.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a direct sales agent. Additionally, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Direct sales agent vs. Consultant and sales representative
A consultant and sales representative's role is to perform research and analysis to devise strategies for reaching sales targets and optimal services. Aside from providing consultations and business plans, they may also represent the company by reaching out to clients through calls and correspondence. They may offer products and services to secure sales, answer inquiries, and even arrange appointments to discuss and negotiate deals. Furthermore, as a consultant and sales representative, it is essential to build positive relationships with clients in adherence to the company's policies and regulations.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real direct sales agent resumes. While direct sales agent responsibilities can utilize skills like "medicare," "health insurance," "direct sales," and "underwriting process," consultants and sales representative use skills like "business relationships," "strong presentation," "lead generation," and "energy efficiency."
In general, consultants and sales representative achieve similar levels of education than direct sales agents. They're 2.7% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Direct sales agent vs. Marketing/sales representative
The job of marketing/sales representatives is to pitch a company's products and services to potential customers. They work to drive brand awareness through face-to-face consumer interaction. They are often considered as a liaison between sellers and buyers, providing information about products and services. They promote human relationships through marketing collateral distribution and communication. Other responsibilities include planning and implementing marketing campaigns, maintaining good relationships with vendors and venues, and promoting business expansion opportunities. This role requires a bachelor's degree in business administration, communications and marketing experience, excellent communication skills, and time management skills.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from direct sales agent resumes include skills like "health insurance," "underwriting process," "sales tools," and "pet," whereas a marketing/sales representative is more likely to list skills in "business relationships," "sales rep," "sales territory," and "account management. "
Marketing/sales representatives typically earn similar educational levels compared to direct sales agents. Specifically, they're 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Direct sales agent vs. Licensed insurance agent
A licensed insurance agent is primarily responsible for finding and utilizing opportunities to secure insurance sales. Moreover, a licensed insurance agent must reach out to potential clients, discuss and negotiate terms, respond to inquiries, and perform various assessments to determine their ability to uphold financial obligations. Besides building a client base, they also need to handle current policies, process renewals, monitor claims, maintain an accurate record of transactions, prepare progress reports and strategies, and distribute policy proceeds according to the company rules and regulations.
Types of direct sales agent
Updated January 8, 2025
