There can be a preconceived idea that salespeople earn a lot even if you’re just starting out, more so if you’re already a senior in the field. It sometimes makes us wonder, what really is a salesperson’s pay? What’s the difference between junior vs senior salespeople salaries?
This article will explain the differences between junior vs senior salespeople not just in earnings but also in responsibilities and career progression. You will also learn how long it takes to become a senior salesperson. So, if you want to know how to become successful in the sales field, keep reading because this article is for you.
What Is a Salesperson?
A salesperson is an individual whose main job is to sell products, solutions, or services to customers. A salesperson can perform sales functions either physically or virtually. Examples of these functions include selling a physical product via the store or selling online courses via the internet.
Junior vs Senior Salespeople: Areas of Responsibility
Although both of them have the primary function of selling, juniors and seniors salespeople still have job functions with different responsibilities. For instance, senior sales professionals have years of sales experience and that’s why, typically, they manage, train, and oversee what junior salespeople do. Let’s have a closer look at their responsibilities below.
Junior Salesperson Job Description
- Researching. One of the responsibilities of junior salespeople is to understand the needs of their prospects. They interact with and ask questions to customers or do online research to create leads. Before selling a product or service, they must first research and get information about the market and customers.
- Informing the customers. One of the most important aspects of sales is to educate and provide enough information to potential customers. Junior salespeople must provide customers with relevant offers to represent their company well and leave a positive impression.
- Developing customer relationships. Taking care of customers can greatly impact a business’s annual sales. So part of the responsibilities of a junior salesperson is to maintain relationships with current customers and develop relationships with new customers.
- Supporting the sales team. Junior salespeople help achieve the sales goal set by the sales manager. To do that, they use the transactional sales model to promote the company’s products or services. They can also implement different sales campaigns and handle objections or questions from customers to ensure deal closure.
- Promoting the company. Whenever junior sales representatives do sales activities, they always promote the company to potential customers. They spend time understanding the specific sales techniques and products of the company to promote them well.
Senior Salesperson Job Description
- Managing all sales processes. Senior sales representatives keep accurate records of opportunities and overall sales, potential and present clients, and where they are in the sales funnel. They also create sales reports and sales territory strategies regularly. At times, they are also involved in junior representatives’ sales performance reviews.
- Developing long-term customer relationships. A senior salesperson develops and maintains a long-term business relationship with customers. Because they have more advanced skills in analyzing consumer behavior and know how to determine customer preferences, they use those skills to attract and build loyal customers.
- Developing and analyzing sales strategies. Senior sales reps develop and assess the effectiveness of sales and operations to make the required adjustments. They do these to help the company meet its sales targets and overall business objectives. They set and maintain targets and also analyze the market, competitors, and sales channels.
- Leading sales teams. Senior salespeople need to foster healthy sales team competition as they set the bar of what success looks like in that company. Seniors are responsible for setting the sales goals for each quarter, so it’s important for them to be conscious of when to push or how to keep the team spirits up.
- Coaching junior sales representatives. A senior sales representative coaches junior sales representatives in identifying potential customers and giving them actionable sales advice. They also hire, train, and provide overall guidance to newly recruited sales representatives.
Junior vs Senior Salespeople Salaries
Different factors affect how junior and senior salespeople earn their salaries. Since senior salespeople have more experience in the field, they earn higher wages than those in a junior sales role. In the following sections, we discuss the pay differences between junior and senior salespeople.
Junior Salesperson Salary
According to ZipRecruiter, a junior sales representatives’ average base salary is $39,496 per year. On the same page, you can find that the junior salespeople’s average salary range is from $14,500 to $69,500. A junior salesperson’s pay can increase depending on the skill level and years of experience.
Senior Salesperson Salary
ZipRecruiter data shows that the average base salary for a senior sales representative is $75,559 annually. At the minimum, senior salespersons earn $29,500, and they can earn a maximum of $107,000 a year. The reason for the higher average in seniors is because they have already developed sales skills that enable businesses to make more value and revenues.
How Long Does It Take to Become a Junior Salesperson?
On average, a junior representative may need up to three months to develop basic sales skills. To become competent in sales, it will take the junior representative at least nine months and 15 months to become a top performer. It can take some time to master sales skills if you’re just starting as a junior salesperson, but you just need to have an unwavering drive, sales talent, and adequate sales training to succeed.
How Long Does It Take to Become a Senior Salesperson?
You can be a senior sales representative in just two years if you have acquired a strong knowledge of sales strategies. In many cases, to become a senior salesperson, you need a degree in business administration or marketing. Senior employees with experience in management and leadership can also quickly advance to higher sales positions.
Career Path and Progression from Junior to Senior Salesperson
1. Learn and Acquire Sales Skills
It’s of utmost importance to acquire sales skills because that’s the heart of the job. The easiest way you can do that is by watching videos online, following webinars, online courses, or joining sales bootcamps. The whole idea is to get acquainted with the sales process, sales techniques, products, and sales funnels. The next step is gaining some hands-on experience in the field.
2. Start Working as a Junior Sales Rep or Sales Consultant
By working in sales, you’ll get a firsthand experience of the actual role and test your skills practically. You’ll learn how to juggle generating leads and growing a customer base, building customer connections and a sales pipeline, and meeting sales targets. Having professional experience in sales is an important step for your further development in this field.
3. Build a Sales Portfolio
Once you have acquired some sales skills, you can go on to build a sales portfolio. One of the best ways to sharpen your sales skills is by seeking projects that give you hands-on experience. As you collect sales projects, you can use them to build your sales portfolio.
4. Develop Leadership and Management Skills
Up until this step, you can enter many mid-level seniority jobs. Your skills are developed, and you can read customers and sell. However, if you want to ascend and become a senior, you need to invest in developing your managerial and leadership skills. You need strong communication skills and the ability to transfer your knowledge and lead junior salespeople.
5. Become an Expert Salesperson
You know how to look for prospective customers in the sales pipeline, you know how to close leads generated by the sales department, and you also know how to manage and lead people. The next step you can do is to take on more responsibilities and become a senior representative in sales. Senior sales professionals are responsible for the whole sales process.
A senior representative can become a senior sales executive which is one level higher. They delegate information to sales departments and other sales organizations. Senior salespeople have a high level of experience, excellent knowledge of sales methodology, and manage larger clients. These are the roles you want to be prepared for once you become a senior salesperson.
Should You Become a Salesperson?
Yes, definitely because if you know how to sell, you can earn good money and be a successful individual. Developing sales skills is the first best thing you can do for yourself. If you know how to sell, you can find business opportunities easily, make better business decisions, and have a better life overall.
After having the necessary skills, getting professional experience in sales would be a smart choice. You’ll learn all the things you need to get better in sales and sales tactics. However, if you can’t do that yet, then the next best option is to apply for a sales bootcamp course or read sales blogs. With these options, you can develop your skills at your own pace and eventually achieve success in sales.
Junior vs Senior Salespeople Salaries FAQ
The highest-paid sales reps are pharmaceutical sales representatives with $81,798 annual average salary and enterprise sales/account executives earning $75,000 annually. Typically, most salespeople with good sales skills are highly paid. If you know how to sell, then you will be a valuable salesperson in any company and get paid more.
Buying signals are indication cues that a potential customer shows when he’s ready to buy. In physical sales, those cues can be verbal or nonverbal, for example, when a customer stops you to ask you questions or shares information about their issues. However, there are buying signals for online businesses too, such as applying for a free trial or asking about payment methods.
The best way to deal with a customer who turns you down on your offer is by following some basic tips and tricks. These include not taking it personally, proactively engaging the individual who rejected you, refraining from blaming others and taking responsibility, and asking yourself what you can do to do better next time.
To get a yes in sales, you need to have a sales strategy in mind and use different types of sales techniques. Some common tips include knowing your customer, knowing your product, not starting with a pitch, getting used to hearing no, and remembering to follow up.
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