Direct sales representatives are responsible for creating customer awareness of the company's products and services. They present these products and services to potential customers to aid in closing sales. Some of their duties include researching the products of competitors and identifying opportunities to increase sales. They assist in developing and executing sales and marketing plans. As a direct sales rep, you will answer customers' inquiries about product pricing, availability, features, and benefits. You'll help management in finding viable marketing and pricing strategies.
The minimum educational requirement for this role is a high school diploma or GED. However, having a bachelor's degree in marketing, business administration, or a related field can be advantageous. Candidates must have proven sales experience. You must possess selling, networking, negotiation, customer service, and communication skills. You must be able to retain important information. Direct sales reps make an average annual salary of $38,759. This varies between $20,000 and $74,000.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Direct Sales Representative. For example, did you know that they make an average of $21.62 an hour? That's $44,967 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 35,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many Direct Sales Representatives have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed Interpersonal skills, Physical stamina and Self-confidence.
If you're interested in becoming a Direct Sales Representative, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 53.4% of Direct Sales Representatives have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 4.2% of Direct Sales Representatives have master's degrees. Even though most Direct Sales Representatives have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a Direct Sales Representative. When we researched the most common majors for a Direct Sales Representative, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Associate Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Direct Sales Representative resumes include High School Diploma degrees or Master's Degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Direct Sales Representative. In fact, many Direct Sales Representative jobs require experience in a role such as Customer Service Representative. Meanwhile, many Direct Sales Representatives also have previous career experience in roles such as Sales Representative or Sales Associate.