<p>Sales professionals are responsible for securing the quality business that any organisation needs if it is to function successfully. Without customers a business will inevitably fail, so it is down to the sales professionals to keep a steady flow of money coming into the company, by successfully selling its products or services to new and existing customers.</p>
<p>Sales jobs can vary greatly, but they often involve a large amount of travelling, and the potential to work away from the office, which many people find highly appealing. This article will explain the types of roles sales professionals can occupy, and give an insight into the kind of salaries that can be achieved.</p>
<h3>Different sectors to work in.</h3>
<p>Those in field sales jobs work within a variety of different sectors. As an example, media companies often rely on their sales team to fulfil several crucial tasks. A magazine will need to sell advertising, so its sales team will need to interact with businesses and sell the benefits of advertising in the magazine's pages to these organisations.</p>
<p>The same sales team may also take proactive steps to sell the magazine directly to customers who have registered their interest in subscriptions previously, or submitted their details to a marketing list.</p>
<p>IT is another sector that makes extensive use of field sales professionals. IT field sales professionals are responsible for contacting relevant businesses to persuade them to upgrade their IT systems and hardware options.</p>
<p>Another, slightly different, role for field sales executives is within not-for-profit organisations, like charities. These roles usually involve calling individuals who have previously shown an interest in the work of the charity, or made a donation, in order to try and secure further donations or participation.</p>
<p>Anyone who is interested in field sales professional roles should use a recruitment company to assess all of the options available to them, and find vacancies that are a good fit for their interests, level of experience and ability.</p>
<h3>Variations on the role.</h3>
<p>In most cases, individuals in these jobs work to their own sales targets, which fit into an overall sales strategy, dictated by the sales manager. In some cases, however, the sales workers are given more responsibility to actually create their own sales strategy, before they then proceed to implement it.</p>
<p>Some roles are office based for the majority of the time, while others involve a great deal more travelling. This can be as simple as driving to a meeting down the road with a local business partner, or jetting across the world to meet with high-level business people.</p>
<p>Some sales roles also involve tasks such as giving presentations to rooms full of interested parties, or interacting with potential customers, and generating interest at trade shows and industry events.</p>
<p>Sales salaries usually revolve heavily around commission payments and bonuses. This means individuals in this line of work need to get results to succeed. Pay usually consists of a basic payment, which is then topped up by commission, if the individual meets or exceeds sales targets. Jobs with uncapped commission usually provide the best salaries.</p>