Sales Representatives, Wholesale And Manufacturing, Technical And Scientific Products

Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products

Description

Sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers where technical or scientific knowledge is required in such areas as biology, engineering, chemistry, and electronics, normally obtained from at least 2 years of post-secondary education.

Tasks

Contact new and existing customers to discuss their needs, and to explain how these needs could be met by specific products and services.
Answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, or credit terms.
Quote prices, credit terms, or other bid specifications.
Emphasize product features based on analyses of customers' needs and on technical knowledge of product capabilities and limitations.
Negotiate prices or terms of sales or service agreements.
Maintain customer records, using automated systems.
Identify prospective customers by using business directories, following leads from existing clients, participating in organizations and clubs, and attending trade shows and conferences.
Prepare sales contracts for orders obtained, and submit orders for processing.
Select the correct products or assist customers in making product selections, based on customers' needs, product specifications, and applicable regulations.
Collaborate with colleagues to exchange information, such as selling strategies or marketing information.
Prepare sales presentations or proposals to explain product specifications or applications.
Demonstrate and explain the operation and use of products.
Provide customers with ongoing technical support.
Inform customers of estimated delivery schedules, service contracts, warranties, or other information pertaining to purchased products.
Attend sales and trade meetings, and read related publications in order to obtain information about market conditions, business trends, and industry developments.
Visit establishments to evaluate needs or to promote product or service sales.
Complete expense reports, sales reports, or other paperwork.
Initiate sales campaigns and follow marketing plan guidelines in order to meet sales and production expectations.
Recommend ways for customers to alter product usage in order to improve production.
Complete product and development training as required.
Provide feedback to product design teams so that products can be tailored to clients' needs.
Arrange for installation and testing of products or machinery.
Verify that materials lists are accurate and that delivery schedules meet project deadlines.
Sell service contracts for products.
Study information about new products so that equipment and supplies can be accurately depicted and proper recommendations made.
Compute customer's installation or production costs and estimate savings from new services, products, or equipment.
Consult with engineers regarding technical problems with products.
Verify customers' credit ratings, and appraise equipment in order to determine contract terms and trade-in values.
Advise customers regarding office layouts, legal and insurance regulations, cost analyses, and collection methods.
Stock or distribute resources, such as samples or promotional or educational materials.
Obtain building blueprints or specifications for use by engineering departments in bid preparations.
Visit establishments, such as pharmacies, to determine product sales.
Train establishment personnel in equipment use.
Review existing machinery/equipment placement, and create diagrams to illustrate efficient space utilization, using standard measuring devices and templates.
Inform customers about issues related to responsible use and disposal of products, such as waste reduction or product or byproduct recycling or disposal.
Present information to customers about the energy efficiency or environmental impact of scientific or technical products.
Research and convey information to customers about tax benefits or government rebates associated with energy-efficient scientific or technical products, such as solar panels.
Sell technical and scientific products that are environmentally sound or designed for environmental remediation.

Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Sales and Marketing: Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Mathematics: Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Clerical: Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
Production and Processing: Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills

Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Persuasion: Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Negotiation: Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities

Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).

Work Activities

Selling or Influencing Others: Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
Communicating with Persons Outside Organization: Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships: Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates: Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems: Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Getting Information: Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge: Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work: Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.

Work Context

Telephone: How often do you have telephone conversations in this job?
Deal With External Customers: How important is it to work with external customers or the public in this job?
Contact With Others: How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it?
Face-to-Face Discussions: How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job?
Freedom to Make Decisions: How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer?
Structured versus Unstructured Work: To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals?
Level of Competition: To what extent does this job require the worker to compete or to be aware of competitive pressures?
Indoors, Environmentally Controlled: How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions?
Frequency of Decision Making: How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization?
Importance of Being Exact or Accurate: How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job?

Interests

Enterprising: Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
Conventional: Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Realistic: Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Investigative: Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
Social: Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
Artistic: Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Work Style

Initiative: Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Independence: Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Persistence: Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
Achievement/Effort: Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Dependability: Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Attention to Detail: Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Integrity: Job requires being honest and ethical.
Stress Tolerance: Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
Adaptability/Flexibility: Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
Self Control: Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

Work Values

Independence: Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
Achievement: Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
Working Conditions: Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions.
Relationships: Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
Recognition: Occupations that satisfy this work value offer advancement, potential for leadership, and are often considered prestigious. Corresponding needs are Advancement, Authority, Recognition and Social Status.
Support: Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.

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National Wages and Employment Info

Median Wages (2008):: $36.04 hourly, $74,970 annual.

Employment (2008):: 364,830 employees