Case studies : Sales and marketing executive: Richard

Richard graduated with a degree in marketing in 2007. He now works as a sales and marketing executive for Mail Boxes Etc, a provider of worldwide express package delivery, mailbox rental, full litho print and digital copy services. Richard has been employed in his current organisation since his graduation.

I started working for this company while I was still at university when I was required to do a work placement for one of my modules. I impressed my employer when I was on placement and then was successful in getting a permanent job after graduation. I think work experience is important for securing the right kind of position. The opportunity I took enabled me to see what working for a small, yet forward thinking organisation involved and helped me to decide sales and marketing was the right career area for me.

To do well in sales you need advanced people skills. You must enjoy meeting people and be able to develop relationships quickly. To do this you need confidence but you also need to listen and understand the customer. I often have to change my approach to fit my audience. No two customers are the same so being able to adapt what you are saying is important for ensuring a customer feels you’re treating to them as an individual.

As well as offering a professional service to existing customers, my role involves looking for new ones. Effective networking is important and I attend business networking events, some of which take place outside the traditional working day (i.e. breakfast time and evenings). I’m required to have a detailed knowledge about my products and then be able to talk about them in a succinct yet engaging way. All conversations are an opportunity - even if the person you’re speaking to isn’t interested, they may know someone who is.

I also do a significant amount of research as part of my role to help find possible opportunities for new business. I may have to telephone an organisation to find out who is the right person for me to contact. This is about generating leads. In this sort of work, you come across people who don’t want to speak to you and dealing with knockbacks can be difficult, but I actually see this as one of the many challenges. There’s a real satisfaction in getting someone to think twice or change their mind on the basis of what you’ve said.

My advice to students thinking about sales is to think about the sort of person you are. You need to understand what you want from your career. You then need to research employment opportunities and who offers them. Talking to people doing the job will really help. I’d also say that there are considerable differences between large and small organisations, so try to find out which would suit you.