What does a telephone sales representative do?
The primary job of telephone sales representatives is to sell products and services to prospective customers through telephone. They typically answer phone calls and answer inquiries from customers. Their duties and responsibilities include updating database and backup data regularly, completing forms and recording logs, and following organizational standards in order to maintain quality and exceptional customer service. Qualifications required for this role may include previous work experience in sales or a related field, customer service skills, and strong attention to detail.
Telephone sales representative responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real telephone sales representative resumes:
- Conduct telephone sales and interviews, compile and enter information into database, manage documents and insure customer satisfaction.
- Maintain HIPAA regulations and standards.
- Build, setup, troubleshoot and maintain computer hardware and software needs as necessary.
- Place out bound sales calls to current DIRECTV customers and try to get them to upgrade their current channel package.
- Follow governmental regulations and HIPAA guidelines.
- Locate and troubleshoot items that customers have purchased
- Provide telephone and e-mail support to Georgia Medicaid recipients.
- Assist and answer specific and generalize questions pertaining to Medicaid and Medicare.
- Monitor market conditions and competitor activity and adjust sales approach to meet changing market conditions.
- Contribute to management objectives in refining provide script to minimize telephone objections and close sales.
- Perform telemarketing duties for online advertisement/marketing
- Perform telemarketing duties for online advertisement/marketing
Telephone sales representative skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Telephone Sales Representatives are proficient in Outbound Calls, Telephone Sales, and Life Insurance. They’re also known for soft skills such as Physical stamina, Self-confidence, and Customer-service skills.
We break down the percentage of Telephone Sales Representatives that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Outbound Calls, 18%
Perform outbound calls to customers while delivering a scripted message and responding professionally and appropriately to customer objectives and questions.
- Telephone Sales, 11%
Received training and certification, Telephone Sales Representative-Primary
- Life Insurance, 11%
Provided Gerber Life Insurance Company with a quantitative analysis of marketing life insurance to Hispanics.
- Product Knowledge, 7%
Demonstrated execution of product knowledge and versatility with handling varying client calls in fast paced environment.
- Customer Service, 7%
Maintain quality control/satisfaction records, constantly seeking new and exhilarating ways to provide outstanding customer service in a call center environment.
- Inbound Calls, 6%
Received inbound calls assisting customers with reservations through presentation of services and products.
Most telephone sales representatives use their skills in "outbound calls," "telephone sales," and "life insurance" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential telephone sales representative responsibilities here:
Customer-service skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of telephone sales representatives is customer-service skills. This skill is critical to many everyday telephone sales representative duties, as "representatives help companies retain customers by professionally answering questions and helping to resolve complaints." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "influenced customers to buy or retain product or service by following a very specific set of sales techniques. "
Interpersonal skills. telephone sales representative responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "representatives should be able to create positive interactions with customers." This resume example shows what telephone sales representatives do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "demonstrated exceptional sales ability and strong interpersonal skills with a persuasive, positive, and confident approach. "
Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a telephone sales representative to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what telephone sales representatives relies on this skill, since "customer service representatives must be able to provide clear information in writing, by phone, or in person." How this skill relates to telephone sales representative duties can be seen in an example from a telephone sales representative resume snippet: "utilized sales and communication skills. "
The three companies that hire the most telephone sales representatives are:
- OnBrand24
17 telephone sales representatives jobs
- UnitedHealth Group2 telephone sales representatives jobs
- Worldwide Flight Services Inc
1 telephone sales representatives jobs
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Compare different telephone sales representatives
Telephone sales representative vs. Customer representative
A customer service representative is an individual person who establishes communication between customers and the organization by answering questions, resolve complaints, and address emergency issues about the products and services he/she sells. He/She must possess an approachable personality, a passion for customer service, and work with his/her fellow workmates. The minimum educational requirement for a customer service representative is a high school diploma; however, a candidate must complete on-the-job training. A Customer Service Representative should also possess excellent communication and problem-solving skills.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, telephone sales representative responsibilities require skills like "excellent organizational," "telephone sales," "life insurance," and "outbound sales." Meanwhile a typical customer representative has skills in areas such as "phone calls," "windows," "technical support," and "data entry." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Customer representatives earn the highest salaries when working in the transportation industry, with an average yearly salary of $35,783. On the other hand, telephone sales representatives are paid more in the media industry with an average salary of $32,969.customer representatives tend to reach similar levels of education than telephone sales representatives. In fact, customer representatives are 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Telephone sales representative vs. Customer service representative
Customer service representatives are the first point of contact of the customers, acting as the frontiers of the company and help in driving customer loyalty and retention by leaving a great impression and resolving all of their concerns. They accommodate customer queries by providing useful and comprehensive information about any products or services. Some would use that as an opportunity to market and promote more sales. The most challenging issues they use to handle are customer complaints and processing of refunds and returns. They also assist in basic troubleshooting or accounts and payment setup with the use of specific guidelines or step by step procedures. At most, they help and solve customer issues on their own, but sometimes they would need support from supervisors or other departments.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real telephone sales representative resumes. While telephone sales representative responsibilities can utilize skills like "telephone sales," "life insurance," "inbound calls," and "outbound sales," customer service representatives use skills like "cleanliness," "pos," "data entry," and "sales floor."
Customer service representatives earn a higher average salary than telephone sales representatives. But customer service representatives earn the highest pay in the insurance industry, with an average salary of $34,074. Additionally, telephone sales representatives earn the highest salaries in the media with average pay of $32,969 annually.In general, customer service representatives achieve similar levels of education than telephone sales representatives. They're 0.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Telephone sales representative vs. Sales development representative
A sales development representative qualifies leads at the sales funnel's initial stages. Sales development representatives need to conduct research for prospective clients and qualify the leads before handing them to the sales team. They develop sales strategies to attract buyers or solicit potential customers. They need to build relationships with their customers to determine their needs and qualify the viability of interests to drive sales. Also, they collaborate with the sales executives making certain that corporate targets and goals are met.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a telephone sales representative is likely to be skilled in "excellent organizational," "telephone sales," "life insurance," and "inbound calls," while a typical sales development representative is skilled in "sdr," "lead generation," "account executives," and "linkedin."
Sales development representatives earn the best pay in the start-up industry, where they command an average salary of $54,512. Telephone sales representatives earn the highest pay from the media industry, with an average salary of $32,969.When it comes to education, sales development representatives tend to earn similar degree levels compared to telephone sales representatives. In fact, they're 1.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Telephone sales representative vs. Service representative
Service representatives handle customer inquiries, requests, complaints, and other general feedback. They are usually the first point of contact with the company's customers. Service representatives are expected to be familiar with all of the company's products so that they can answer all inquiries made by the customers. They should also be familiar with company policies and guidelines on sales and customer handling so that they can address concerns and feedback. They are usually the ones who try to resolve customer complaints by sending issues to applicable departments and ensuring that customers are satisfied with the company's products and services.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between telephone sales representatives and service representatives, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a telephone sales representative might have more use for skills like "excellent organizational," "telephone sales," "life insurance," and "outbound sales." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of service representatives require skills like "client service," "patients," "pet," and "front desk. "
In general, service representatives earn the most working in the government industry, with an average salary of $38,566. The highest-paying industry for a telephone sales representative is the media industry.service representatives reach similar levels of education compared to telephone sales representatives, in general. The difference is that they're 2.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of telephone sales representative
Updated January 8, 2025
