What does a senior sales associate do?
A senior sales associate is responsible for overseeing the operations in a retail establishment's sales floor. They reach out to customers and respond to inquiries, help them obtain the product they are looking for, or recommend other goods should it be necessary. As a senior sales associate, they are in charge of mentoring less experienced colleagues and shaping them into more competent workforce members. They must also implement sales policies and regulations, devise strategies to reach sales targets, find new opportunities to strengthen client base, produce reports, and maintain inventory.
Senior sales associate responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior sales associate resumes:
- Manage organizational standards, cleanliness of store and safety procedures/policies; manage and maintain store appearance, provide exceptional customer service.
- Operate POS and administrative computer systems.
- Receive new product and incorporate it into current inventory via POS inventory management system.
- Maintain retail garden center through daily cleanliness and product up-keep and display including pruning/dead-heading product.
- Partner in managing operations of multiple retail outlets, including hiring, performance management, scheduling, and merchandising management.
- Demonstrate strong leadership, communication and supervisory skills by providing coaching and feedback to maximize individual and store performance.
Senior sales associate skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Senior Sales Associates are proficient in Customer Service, Product Knowledge, and Phone Calls. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Math skills, and Persistence.
We break down the percentage of Senior Sales Associates that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 17%
Developed wide-range of product knowledge that aided in technical support for both customers and co-workers and informative customer service.
- Product Knowledge, 10%
Developed product knowledge, maintained trend awareness, and provided exceptional customer care to create positive shopping experience and improve profitability.
- Phone Calls, 9%
Develop agents to make better phone calls by indicating areas of opportunity and utilizing desired client behaviors.
- Customer Satisfaction, 8%
Provided attentive customer service and developed relationships with new and existing clients in order to increase customer satisfaction.
- Cleanliness, 6%
Managed organizational standards, cleanliness of store and safety procedures/policies; managed and maintained store appearance, provided exceptional customer service.
- PowerPoint, 6%
Prepared and customized client proposals for Branch Managers & Field Sales Representatives using PowerPoint, BusinessMap Pro and Adobe Acrobat.
Most senior sales associates use their skills in "customer service," "product knowledge," and "phone calls" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential senior sales associate responsibilities here:
Interpersonal skills. The most essential soft skill for a senior sales associate to carry out their responsibilities is interpersonal skills. This skill is important for the role because "a friendly and outgoing personality is important for these workers because the job requires almost constant interaction with people." Additionally, a senior sales associate resume shows how their duties depend on interpersonal skills: "demonstrated strong interpersonal skills, product knowledge, selling techniques, and maintaining sales floor presentation and visual standards. "
Math skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling senior sales associate duties is math skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "retail sales workers must have the ability to calculate price totals, discounts, and change owed to customers." According to a senior sales associate resume, here's how senior sales associates can utilize math skills in their job responsibilities: "produced monthly sales reports, productivity statistics, and managed register activities. "
Persistence. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of senior sales associates is persistence. This skill is critical to many everyday senior sales associate duties, as "a large number of attempted sales may not be successful, so sales workers should not be discouraged easily." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "combined patience, determination and persistence to achieve highest total sales volume in the department for 1992. "
Selling skills. For certain senior sales associate responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "selling skills." The day-to-day duties of a senior sales associate rely on this skill, as "retail sales workers must be persuasive when interacting with customers." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what senior sales associates do: "implemented innovative sales techniques to generate high quality sales acquisition and volume. "
Customer-service skills. Another crucial skill for a senior sales associate to carry out their responsibilities is "customer-service skills." A big part of what senior sales associates relies on this skill, since "retail sales workers must be responsive to the wants and needs of customers." How this skill relates to senior sales associate duties can be seen in an example from a senior sales associate resume snippet: "assisted customers with any problems or complaints, supervised part-time sales associates in sales techniques and knowledge of product"
The three companies that hire the most senior sales associates are:
- Petco Holdings, Inc.191 senior sales associates jobs
- Rack Room Shoes83 senior sales associates jobs
- The Salvation Army45 senior sales associates jobs
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Compare different senior sales associates
Senior sales associate vs. Assistant store manager of sales
Assistant store managers of sales are executive professionals who are responsible for assisting store managers in supervising staff members as well as store operations. These assistant managers are required to provide excellent customer service and store management to meet the company standard in the overall store presentation. They must develop and implement company policies and procedures so that they can achieve high-quality products and customer service consistently. These assistant managers are also required to monitor budget and payroll records while reviewing financial transactions to ensure that expenditures are authorized.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between senior sales associates and assistant store manager of sales. For instance, senior sales associate responsibilities require skills such as "phone calls," "cleanliness," "powerpoint," and "data entry." Whereas a assistant store manager of sales is skilled in "payroll," "kpi," "sales strategies," and "business results." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Assistant store managers of sales tend to reach similar levels of education than senior sales associates. In fact, assistant store managers of sales are 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Senior sales associate vs. Assistant manager, sales
An assistant sales manager assists the sales manager in supervising the daily store operations. It is their responsibility to develop strategies to improve the store's profit, effectively resolve client's issues, and manage the recruitment of sales staff. They need to train and guide the sales staff to learn sales strategies to enhance their sales performance. Assistant sales managers must have strong management and leadership skills so they can do the duties of the sales managers in case of their absence. Candidates applying for the job should have excellent customer service skills and relevant experience in sales.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that senior sales associate responsibilities requires skills like "phone calls," "cleanliness," "data entry," and "persuasion." But an assistant manager, sales might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "excellent interpersonal," "store sales," "payroll," and "strong analytical."
Assistant managers, sales earn a lower average salary than senior sales associates. But assistant managers, sales earn the highest pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $36,707. Additionally, senior sales associates earn the highest salaries in the pharmaceutical with average pay of $58,801 annually.In general, assistant managers, sales achieve similar levels of education than senior sales associates. They're 1.1% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior sales associates in the next 3-5 years?
Bill Thorne
Executive Director of the NRF Foundation and Senior Vice President of Communication and Public Affairs of NRF, National Retail Federation
Senior sales associate vs. Associate/team lead
An associate/team lead oversees the performance of team members while ensuring that clients get to receive optimal services. Their responsibilities typically include establishing guidelines and objectives, managing schedules, generating leads, performing market research and analysis, and developing strategies to optimize the daily operations. They may communicate with clients and assist them by identifying their needs, answering inquiries, and resolving issues and concerns. Moreover, as an associate/team lead, it is essential to guide and encourage staff to reach goals, all while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, senior sales associates are more likely to have skills like "phone calls," "cleanliness," "data entry," and "retail store." But a associate/team lead is more likely to have skills like "excellent interpersonal," "basic math," "quality standards," and "leadership."
Associate/team leads typically earn similar educational levels compared to senior sales associates. Specifically, they're 1.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior sales associate vs. Sales associate and customer service
Sales and customer service associates are employees who are responsible for closing out sales deals and attending to customer needs. They are in charge of selling company goods and services to potential clients, often citing the common needs of prospective clients to ensure sales. They also handle customer inquiries and complaints and try their best to mitigate any problems that would arise. They are expected to be experts on company products to ensure that they can provide the best service to customers. Sales and customer service associates should have strong interpersonal skills, customer service skills, and communication skills.
Updated January 8, 2025
