Sales Jobs in India: Educational Eligibility, Job Responsibilities and Other Key Details

by Shalini Laxmish Digital Marketing Executive

Sales professionals in India exhibit a particular set of skills that helps them to offer impeccable customer service. They are responsible for selling and promoting services or products and are masters of answering customers’ questions related to their offerings.

While they’re more focused on sales, the maintenance and development of the product or service based on customer feedback is something that they look into as well. As expected, since they’re the first point of contact for customers, any questions, complaints, and issues related to refunds and returns are handled by them.

What’s more, they also assume the role of consultants assisting customers when they need expert advice when buying or subscribing to top-notch products and services.

Given below are some of the typical responsibilities of a sales professional.

Managing and coordinating returns and refunds
Evaluating customers’ needs, providing valuable information and dispensing help on service/product features
Maintaining excellent sales services to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction
Building a good rapport with customers and potential leads
Informing customers about any offers, promotions, and ads related to the product or service
Listening to customers requests and assisting them via phone, email, chat or in-person
Promoting and selling a variety of products and services to customers
Assessing customer queries and resolving them

Eligibility Criteria for Sales Jobs

Those who want to fashion out a career in sales must meet the eligibility criteria set by employers in India. Given below are details of the eligibility criteria that sales candidates must know about when applying to jobs in India.

Educational Background

Candidates must possess at least a Bachelor’s degree in sales or business management from a recognized university or institute

Employers in India who hire sales professionals also provide opportunities to those who have a Diploma in Sales or have finished their Master’s program in business administration with a specialisation in sales, marketing, operations, or finance

Here are a few of the professional courses that employers ask for when hiring for sales roles in India.

PGDM in Operations Management
MBA in Operations Management
Bachelor’s in Retail and Sales Management
MBA in Sales Management
B.Com in Sales and Marketing

Skills Required for Sales Jobs

Attention to detail
Excellent analytical skills
Time management Skills
Teamwork
Communication skills
Leadership skills
Interpersonal Skills
Strong decision-making

Work Experience

Some employers do need sales professionals for specialised roles. In such cases, they post their job requirements, asking only those candidates to apply who possess at least 1 year of proven work experience in a sales or similar role.

Certification(s)

Certifications are a good way to boost your chances of landing a sales job. It doesn’t only enhance your resume, but also imparts sales-specific skills that can help you get ahead of the competition.

Here are a few certifications available that you can take up or employers may ask about.

SPIN Selling
Certified Sales Leadership Professional (CSLP)
Certified Professional Sales Person (CPSP)
Telephone Sales Training
Certified Sales Executive (CSE)
Sales Bootcamp
Sandler Training
Certified Inside Sales Professional (CISP)
Meddic
Challenger Development Programme (CDP)

FAQs

Which sectors and/or industries hire sales professionals?

There probably isn’t an industry or sector in India that doesn’t hire sales professionals. Almost every business entity regardless of the sector or industry they operate in hires sales professionals.

Some of the leading employers of sales professionals are Education, e-Commerce, BFSI, Information Technology, Retail, Consulting, Advertising etc.

What types of jobs roles exist in the sales domain?

The job role will depend entirely on the candidate’s profile. Sales professionals can be broadly categorised into Business-to-Customers (B2C) sales professionals and Business-to-Business (B2B) sales professionals.

As the names suggest, sales reps in the B2C category sell directly to customers whereas B2B representatives sell directly to businesses. Here’s a look at some of the popular sales job profiles for candidates.