Effective management of store personnel is the key to enterprise growth. Find out what sales associate skills and responsibilities you should consider when applying for a job.
No specialized education or skills are required, but you must have certain character traits and characteristics of communication and behavior.
General requirements for a consultant:
- knowledge of the product/service;
- grammatically correct speech;
- knowledge of etiquette standards;
- ability to restrain yourself;
- communication skills;
- friendly attitude towards people.
Sales consultants have to spend a long time on their feet without rest. Therefore, they must be in good health and physically resilient. It is imperative that the employee understands the specifics of the product he is selling.
Additional requirements may be imposed on employees - knowledge of a PC, computer programs, knowledge of a foreign language. Work experience in the specialty will be an advantage.
Professional skills of a sales consultant
Unlike the salesperson-cashier, the consultant informs the buyer and talks about the benefits of the product. Often it is necessary to work with customer objections and use persuasion tactics, so a specialist must master sales techniques.
You will need knowledge of promotional event algorithms and methods of psychological interaction with customers. Large trading companies organize training for employees in the theoretical fundamentals of sales, participation in seminars and trainings to practice the acquired knowledge.
The skills of a sales consultant include the ability to use programs and documentation to account for goods. And:
- Conducting negotiations with potential buyers.
- High-quality customer service in compliance with sales standards.
- Consultations (informing about the characteristics of the product).
- Packing purchases.
- Pre-sale inspection.
- Consideration of claims, exchange of goods.
The employer can expand the list depending on the specifics of the enterprise and include the formation of a client base and calling among the consultant’s responsibilities.
Store staff motivation
Basic tools:
- corporate culture;
- filling out the honor board;
- growth in career direction;
- friendly team.
In order to form a corporate culture, they organize business and informal events that strengthen relationships in the team. The practice of displaying photos of your best employees on an honor board increases personal sales growth.
If an organization rarely has job openings that allow for career advancement, management can design a system based on the skill levels or categories that will be achieved for certain results.
The main aspect of motivation is the atmosphere in the team, since a person spends a significant amount of time during the day at work. Strained relationships often provoke staff turnover, while productivity increases noticeably in a cohesive team.
Thanks to the competent combination of material and intangible components, the management of a trading enterprise can establish effective work, guaranteeing a stable profit for the organization.
It is likely that our ancient ancestors had a much simpler life than we do. Of course, survival was no easier then, but they did not have the main problem of modern humanity - the problem of choice.
Previously, food had to be obtained, which was the main difficulty. Now you need to select it. In addition, today we live not only by natural needs, so we have to make choices constantly.
And it would be much more difficult to do this if the sales profession did not exist.
Description of the profession
You should not think that the seller’s main task is to exchange our money for the goods he has.
In fact, the buyer is very often not sure of his choice, so he has to be “pushed” to purchase.
The ability to be persuasive and speak the same language with the consumer is one of the most important for those whose profession is sales.
Working as a salesperson requires truly encyclopedic knowledge. The buyer asks many questions, and you need to be able to answer each one.
In a grocery hypermarket, we definitely need to know how sweet the apples we like will be; in a perfume and cosmetics store - will this smell suit our brunette friend?
There are always questions, and we always expect them to be answered in detail.
Famous and famous sellers
- Dale Carnegie. Famous psychologist and author of the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” He was one of the first to notice the value of oratory for sale. He made a brilliant career out of it. Subsequently, he taught others the basic techniques of public speaking.
- Mary Kay Ash. A successful seller and creator of the cosmetics company of the same name. She developed a network sales system where women sold various cosmetics to each other. This company is quite popular even now.
- Grigory Grigorievich Eliseev. Russian merchant. He successfully developed a family business, which he later renamed into the Eliseev Brothers trading partnership. He created the famous Eliseevsky stores in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Profession sales consultant
The profession of sales consultant requires special skill. His task is much more difficult, because except for him, no one will help the buyer understand the whole variety of products offered and choose among them the only one that suits him the most in terms of price, available characteristics, and quality.
Think back to your last visit to an electronics store.
What do you remember most about this visit? Of course, endless rows of all kinds of equipment: dozens of plasma TVs and laptops, hundreds of mobile phones of all price categories...
It is almost impossible to independently study the properties of each proposed model: you will have to put off work for several days, forget about household chores and purposefully study the characteristics of the proposed purchase, from model to model.
Agree, it’s difficult to imagine that any of us would act like this. However, we regularly go shopping, making a variety of purchases. And we are often helped with our choice by someone whose profession is a sales consultant.
It turns out that the profession of a sales consultant forces a person to become an almost eternal student: the need to know everything about emerging new products and navigate the huge assortment is an integral quality of this profession and a guarantee of good earnings.
Of course, there are pros and cons to this work. Working with people has always been considered one of the most difficult.
Not everyone, with just one glance at a person, will be able to choose the right communication style for him, find the necessary arguments, and convince him to make a purchase.
This is difficult for some people, and they leave to look for another profession, while others find their calling in this.
We truly appreciate such sales consultants and allow us to convince us to buy even something that we had not planned at all.
Where to study to become a salesperson?
Modern practice is such that sellers are hired without any education. Of course, this cannot but affect the quality and work process. In any case, specialized education will be a significant advantage in employment.
Basically, sellers are taught by specialized colleges, as a result the following qualifications can be assigned:
- store cashier
- controller-cashier
- food seller
- seller of non-food products
The profession of a salesperson is taught according to the federal state educational standard (FSES) of secondary vocational education in the profession 100701.01 Salesperson, controller-cashier.
Students are taught both theoretical knowledge and practical skills.
It is very important for the seller to know the rules for placing and displaying goods, the expiration dates of food and non-food products, etc.
The seller must be able to weigh and package different types of goods, use the cash register, study the demand for goods, etc.
Work by profession
Sellers will have no problems finding employment. They are needed everywhere. The more stores appear, the more the demand for professional salespeople increases.
Consultants are mainly required for chain stores selling household appliances and electronics. For example, in “M-video”, “Eldorado”, “Ion”, etc.
Cashiers and food sellers are in demand among major retailers: Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, Victoria, Alye Parusa, Metro and others.
Salaries vary greatly depending on the region of residence and the specific place of work.
This article will help you prepare a presentation, report or essay about the sales profession.
Perhaps you will be interested.
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Anyone who can't smile shouldn't be in business.
Chinese proverb
What should a sales consultant do?
A sales consultant is a specialist who has to work in two main areas. First of all, he is engaged in assisting potential buyers:
- Helps to choose a product;
- Selects the right size;
- Helps to evaluate the style;
- Provides information about the manufacturer, material, company.
For any questions that arise, a store visitor can contact a sales consultant, who should be able to solve the problem quickly and competently.
Therefore, a specialist of this profile must thoroughly know the history of the brands that are sold in the store, the history of the store, and size ranges. It is also important to have constantly changing information about the state of the warehouse, about available and missing goods, and about receipts.
In some organizations, a sales consultant is responsible for stirring or arranging goods and maintaining order on the sales floor.
The profit of the store largely depends on the qualifications of sales consultants. And its increase is the second mandatory area of activity for these specialists.
The job description of a sales consultant can be quite broad, but the ultimate goal of his work is to increase sales. In order for this activity to be successful, a specialist must possess a number of special skills and abilities.
Sales consultant: what should a specialist know?
In order to be a successful sales consultant, you need to know how human psychology works: what pushes certain people to buy, what guides them when making a decision, what is needed to push a person to make a purchase.
These are subtle psychological skills that can be learned through special training. But still, talent for sales consists of more than just acquired skills. Many successful salespeople have never attended a training course at all.
They act on a whim, with an inner instinct determining the people with whom it is worth working and those who are not worth wasting their time on. They look at the customer, are genuinely involved, understand what they need, and can offer it in the right way.
Of course, there are quite a few such unique people, but many have the makings for successful work as a sales consultant. They just need to be developed and directed in the right direction.
A sales consultant should know that his work simply requires the following qualities:
- Restraint;
- Patience;
- Self-control;
- Stress resistance;
- Ability to resolve conflicts;
- Ability to resolve conflict situations.
Without these skills, work will turn into sheer stress and tension. In this state, there is no need to talk about successful sales.
What does a sales consultant need to know about buyers to be successful? Ideally, absolutely everything. It is not so difficult to create a general psychological portrait of the main visitors of a particular store.
Based on such a portrait, you can develop an effective model of behavior that will allow you to successfully sell your product and even gain new customers. This is an important skill for a sales consultant.
What should a sales consultant be able to do?
First of all, win people over at first sight. This is a very important skill for a specialist of this kind. No one will want to communicate with a salesperson who doesn’t know how to smile, say hello, or start a conversation.
Thus, he simply does not have the opportunity to recommend anything or somehow prepare a purchase. Greeting is an important part of a sales assistant's job.
You can learn all the skills that trainings and courses offer, but still not learn how to greet clients correctly. it is important to do this with a sincere smile, with a real desire to help them buy exactly what they need.
Secondly, it is very important to keep the client’s attention. To do this, each seller uses his own method. Several of these techniques are what a sales consultant needs to know when he gets started.
In no case should you leave a potential buyer on the sales floor unattended, but being intrusive is also dangerous. The sales consultant must find a balance of attention given to the buyer in order to always be in time to help, seeing that the client is confused, and at the same time not prevent him from thinking in the right direction.
Advice to a sales consultant boils down to the fact that this work requires complete dedication, passion, and interest. A person who is not interested in selling will never be able to make money from it.
The profession of a sales consultant is not hopeless. In large organizations, such specialists are promoted to managers and higher. The salary of a sales consultant most often consists of a fixed salary and a percentage of sales.
A sales consultant is a salesperson whose tasks include not only dispensing goods from the display window, but also advising customers. The specialist recommends to the buyer which product is best to purchase, answers questions, and helps to make the right decision. After the client agrees to purchase, the seller packs and releases the goods and issues a warranty card.
One of the main skills of a sales consultant is the ability to communicate correctly with customers, remembering that you need to sell a product or service, and not just “talk for life.”
The profession of a sales consultant can also be called a sales cashier. Similar positions are sales manager, sales representative (agent) and pharmacist (salesperson in a pharmacy).
Places of work
The position of sales consultant is in demand in stores of various formats:
- shops (cosmetics, clothing, furniture, equipment, etc.);
- companies providing services (medical centers, travel agencies, banks, etc.);
- online stores.
History of the profession
Previously, people who distributed and sold goods were called traders, buyers, merchants. Due to the late emergence of department stores and trading companies in Russia, the profession of a sales consultant appeared not so long ago - at the beginning of the 20th century. People have become more demanding of service and maintenance, and this in turn has forced retail chains to train their salespeople.
Responsibilities of a sales consultant
Depending on the size of the company, the job responsibilities of a sales consultant may include:
- customer consultation;
- receiving and displaying goods;
- sale of goods;
- reporting;
- maintaining cleanliness in the store.
In addition to the above, the responsibilities of the cashier also include:
- pack goods, issue purchases;
- work at the cash register;
- cash reporting;
- handing over cash to the collector;
- participation in inventory.
Requirements for a sales consultant
Basic requirements for a sales consultant:
- education not lower than secondary;
- work experience (welcome, but not required);
- PC ownership;
- knowledge of the specifics of the product.
Sometimes you may need:
- driver's license category B;
- citizenship of the Russian Federation;
- knowledge of English.
Additional requirements may be imposed on the cashier-seller:
- availability of a medical book (certificate);
- Experience working at a cash register;
- knowledge of the 1C program.
Sample resume for sales consultant
How to become a sales consultant
To become a sales consultant you do not need a higher education. Applicants are only required to have a little understanding of the product being sold and skillfully talk about it. Often people take on such positions without work experience.
Sales consultant salary
A sales associate's salary consists of two parts: base salary and percentage of sales. The salary of a specialist ranges from 10-45 thousand rubles per month. The average salary of a sales consultant or sales cashier is 22 thousand rubles per month.