What does a sales agent do?
A sales representative is responsible for offering goods and services to potential and existing clients. Sales representatives must display a strong knowledge of the company's products to assist customers with their inquiries and concerns. A sales representative should have exceptional communication skills and extensive knowledge of the sales industry to deliver sales pitches and negotiate pricing offers with the clients. Sales representatives must also keep themselves updated with the current market trends to provide service recommendations, improving their sales to increase revenues.
Sales agent responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real sales agent resumes:
- Manage a CRM pipeline of hundreds of leads with different needs and qualifications.
- Generate fresh leads through outbound telemarketing.
- Achieve sales standards set for department by effectively communicating Humana campaigns to customers.
- Increase customer understanding of Comcast products and pricing models as well as competitive advantage over other service providers.
- Schedule and meet individuals\groups for assign or self-generate leads, assist and enroll eligible individuals in suitable Medicare product.
- Adhere to all CMS, company, and carrier relate policies and procedures while growing sales.
- License life insurance agent providing Medicare supplements, fix and index annuities.
- Review life insurance, annuities, investment, and international banking documentation for operational and regulatory compliance.
- Create high-value customers and increase profitability by utilizing cross-selling and upselling techniques, while consistently exceeding daily and monthly sales goals.
- Team lead for both seller side and buyer side ISA's.
- Design and create Facebook pages/websites.
- Make future and walk in reservations.
- Establish prospective client on MLS search.
- Complete all activities include with a client's booking.
- Put together new booking folders and mail to clients.
Sales agent skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Sales Agents are proficient in Customer Service, Customer Satisfaction, and Life Insurance. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Math skills, and Customer-service skills.
We break down the percentage of Sales Agents that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 10%
Mastered customer conflict resolution and satisfaction management to provide a professional level of customer service to new and existing clients.
- Customer Satisfaction, 10%
Provide complete customer satisfaction using personalized services, which results in building long-term customer relationships, referrals, and repeat business.
- Life Insurance, 10%
Analyzed life insurance needs and financial goals for individuals and business owners and provided customized solutions that addressed their specific needs.
- Insurance Products, 7%
Assisted customers with supplemental insurance products and delivered presentations to business owners and human resources representatives for corporate insurance programs.
- Work Ethic, 6%
Maintained a professional work ethic in all interaction with other team members, Banking Agents and Store Managers and attending product/technical training
- Cold Calls, 4%
Developed new leads utilizing different prospecting techniques, cold calling, door-to-door introductions, group presentations and individual appointments.
Most sales agents use their skills in "customer service," "customer satisfaction," and "life insurance" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential sales agent responsibilities here:
Detail oriented. The most essential soft skill for a sales agent to carry out their responsibilities is detail oriented. This skill is important for the role 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 sales agent resume shows how their duties depend on detail oriented: "detail oriented data entry experience with auto, home and life insurance. "
Math skills. Another essential skill to perform sales agent duties is math skills. Sales agents responsibilities require that "securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents need to be familiar with mathematical tools, including investment formulas." Sales agents also use math skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "exemplified quality customer service execute business transactions via windows xp managed inventory quantitative and qualitative reconcile of daily and quarterly business transactions"
Customer-service skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of sales agents is customer-service skills. This skill is critical to many everyday sales agent duties, as "securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents must be persuasive and make clients feel comfortable with the agent’s recommendations." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "conduct door -to- door sales efforts to introduce customers to customized products proactively overcoming objections by employing appropriate sales techniques. "
Analytical skills. sales agent responsibilities often require "analytical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "to judge the profitability of potential deals, securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents must have strong analytical skills." This resume example shows what sales agents do with analytical skills on a typical day: "expand customer database through effective sales techniques and referrals of satisfied clientele. "
Initiative. A commonly-found skill in sales agent job descriptions, "initiative" is essential to what sales agents do. Sales agent responsibilities rely on this skill because "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." You can also see how sales agent duties rely on initiative in this resume example: "assisted in the development of sales initiatives to drive new business and create new sales opportunities. "
The three companies that hire the most sales agents are:
- World Travel Holdings271 sales agents jobs
- CNO Financial Group232 sales agents jobs
- AAA Northeast198 sales agents jobs
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Compare different sales agents
Sales agent vs. Licensed sales producer
Adviser sales are responsible for reaching out to clients through calls and correspondence to promote and sell products or services. With a sales target to reach, they must secure sales by prioritizing customer satisfaction. There are also instances when they have to perform follow-up calls, conduct surveys or polls, process payments or refunds, and even handle complaints, issues, and concerns. Furthermore, it is essential to coordinate with the team and adhere to company policies and regulations.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between sales agents and licensed sales producer. For instance, sales agent responsibilities require skills such as "customer satisfaction," "insurance products," "work ethic," and "business relationships." Whereas a licensed sales producer is skilled in "policy changes," "insurance quotes," "processing payments," and "schedule appointments." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, licensed sales producers reach similar levels of education than sales agents. Licensed sales producers are 0.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Sales agent vs. Adviser sales
The duties of an associate sales representative depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. Their responsibilities typically revolve around reaching out to clients through calls or door-to-door visits, offering products and services, collecting payments, addressing issues and concerns, and performing corrective measures when necessary. An associate sales representative often has a quota and deadline to reach; therefore, it is essential to be sales driven and goal-oriented. Furthermore, one must adhere to the policies and regulations of the company.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, sales agent responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "life insurance," "insurance products," "work ethic," and "cold calls." Meanwhile, an adviser sales has duties that require skills in areas such as "pos," "loss prevention," "good communication," and "store management." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Adviser sales earn similar levels of education than sales agents in general. They're 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Sales agent vs. Associate sales representative
An insurance sales representative is primarily responsible for securing insurance sales by reaching out to clients through calls, correspondence, and even appointments. They are also responsible for gathering client information, discussing and recommending suitable terms, and even providing advice to meet their needs, all while building rapport to ensure customer satisfaction. There are also instances where they have to adjust existing terms, assist in filling out applications, and produce progress reports. Furthermore, it is essential to devise strategies to find new sales opportunities, as most insurance sales representatives must reach a particular sales target.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from sales agent resumes include skills like "insurance products," "business relationships," "develop leads," and "health insurance," whereas an associate sales representative is more likely to list skills in "patients," "excellent interpersonal," "excellent organizational," and "product line. "
Associate sales representatives typically earn similar educational levels compared to sales agents. Specifically, they're 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Sales agent vs. Insurance sales representative
Even though a few skill sets overlap between sales agents and insurance sales representatives, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a sales agent might have more use for skills like "customer satisfaction," "life insurance," "insurance products," and "customer issues." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of insurance sales representatives require skills like "excellent time management," "strong customer service," "strong work ethic," and "lead generation. "
Insurance sales representatives reach similar levels of education compared to sales agents, in general. The difference is that they're 0.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of sales agent
Updated January 8, 2025
