An outside sales representative is a sales professional working in the field, responsible for interacting with customers, both potential and existing ones, face-to-face and building lasting relationships with clients. As any other sales representative, they are in charge of demonstrating the features of the company's products and services and promoting the brand's merchandize, either on their own or in collaboration with the marketing department. Similarly, they are responsible for reaching sales goals set by management and working within a given physical and commercial area.
How To Become an Outside Sales Representative
Summary. We reviewed real candidate profiles to learn the best path to become an outside sales representative. We'll guide you through the education, experiences, and skills hiring managers look for in an outside sales representative.
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Most companies require a outside sales representative to have a bachelor's degree degree in a related field, such as business or marketing.
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It's important to have relevant work experience, with typical job requirements ranging from 2-4 years in related fields.
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Common job titles before becoming an outside sales representative include sales representative, inside sales representative, and sales associate.
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Hiring managers expect an outside sales representative to have soft skills such as customer-service skills, interpersonal skills, and physical stamina.
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Once you have all the required skills and experience, it takes an average of less than 1 month of job training to become an outside sales representative.
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Getting a certification as a Certified Sales Professional (CSP) will help you to earn more as an outside sales representative.
We found that 67.3% of outside sales representatives have graduated with a bachelor's degree and 3.5% of people in this position have earned their master's degrees. While most outside sales representatives have a college degree, you may find it's also true that generally it's possible to be successful in this career with only a high school degree. In fact, our research shows that one out of every seven outside sales representatives were not college graduates.
Those outside sales representatives who do attend college, typically earn either a business degree or a marketing degree. Less commonly earned degrees for outside sales representatives include a communication degree or a management degree.
How to become an Outside Sales Representative in 5 steps:
- Step 1: Explore outside sales representative education
- Step 2: Develop outside sales representative skills
- Step 3: Complete relevent training/internship
- Step 4: Research outside sales representative duties
- Step 5: Prepare your resume
Key Steps To Become an Outside Sales Representative
Explore Outside Sales Representative Education
If you're interested in becoming an outside sales representative, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 67.3% of outside sales representatives have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.5% of outside sales representatives have master's degrees. Even though most outside 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 an outside sales representative. When we researched the most common majors for an outside sales representative, we found that they most commonly have business, marketing and communication.
Outside Sales Representative Major Percentages Business 37.60% Marketing 11.10% Communication 7.60% Management 5.10% Other Degrees 38.60% Develop Outside Sales Representative Skills
It'll be a good idea to develop outside sales representative skills before applying for a job. Here are some skills commonly requested in outside sales representative job descriptions:
Skills Percentages Customer Service 17.34% Work Ethic 8.11% Sales Process 3.92% Business Sales 3.83% Cold Calls 3.77% Complete Relevent Training/Internship
Outside sales representatives spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. During this time, new outside sales representatives learn the skills and techniques required for their specific job and employer. The chart below shows how much time it takes to gain competency as an outside sales representative based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real outside sales representative resumes.
Average Amount Of Time At Training
Research Outside Sales Representative Duties
When you decide to become an outside sales representative, It's important to know what duties and responsibilities are required for this position. Some common responsibilities are a part of most outside sales representative jobs. Here is a list of the main duties that define the role:
- Manage and maintain a weekly quota for broadband, and other wireless products.
- Utilize CRM database to manage and track prospect interaction to ensure accurate documentation of window requirements and ongoing communication.
- Web dev, SEO, PPC etc . )
- Participate in the launching and marketing of broadband internet in Orlando with great success.
- Provide care, materials, and essential tools for doctors and nurses working on patients in the E.R.
- Create and maintain successful business partnerships with customers by analyzing, meeting and understanding their needs and patients needs.
Prepare Your Resume
Finally, when you already have checked the skills and responsibilities for this role, you can start creating your resume. Everything that goes into creating a perfect resume can take hours, days, or even weeks. No worries, we created a resume builder to make this process as easy as possible with tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and a summary.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Outside Sales Representative Resume templates
Build a professional Outside Sales Representative resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Outside Sales Representative resume.Apply For an Outside Sales Representative Job
Outside Sales Representative Jobs
