Case studies: Sales executive: Justine

Justine graduated with a BA in Media and Cultural Studies from Nottingham Trent University in 2007. She now works as a new business and corporate sales executive for Magnetic North, a provider of technology services to the call centre industry. She has been in her current role for four months after spending three years in sales with other companies.

On the whole I don’t think that the subject matter of my course is that relevant to my role. I would say though that what I learned about business, marketing and advertising is useful for understanding the corporate world.

After I finished uni I worked behind a bar for a while and then realised that I had to get a proper job! I went to a recruitment agency that put me forward for a job with a telemarketing agency. After almost a couple of years with them I became a new business development manager for a photocopier company.

The primary part of my job is lead generation, which is the process of finding new sales opportunities. I use a customer relationship management (CRM) system which gives me a list of companies to call. I contact each one and try to find the ‘decision maker’. I tell them all about us, what we do and then try to uncover common ground between what they are looking for and what we can provide. I then set up a sales appointment, show them the product and provide them with a quotation for our services. There is a lot of variety as you speak to all sorts of people and all sorts of companies and industries.

The hardest part of the job is getting through to people and getting them interested. You will get the phone hung up on you a few times, get told to go away, but every now and again you will get someone who is interested and that’s what makes your day. You have to persevere - and it helps to be charming!

I am working towards a promotion to become a business development executive, but at the same time I am redoing my A-levels so that I can go to medical school to eventually become a doctor. I am working hard to make a lot of money out of this job to fund my studies.

My advice to anyone considering going into sales is to get a thick skin. Expect a lot of rejection and if you can’t cope with it, you might want to think about another career. You need to be ready to really do your research so that you know who you’re selling to and what you are selling.