Sales & Marketing
The sales and marketing functions of a business are essential to its success, regardless of its size or industry focus.
What are the goals for sales and marketing?
- Generating Revenue: These teams are the main drivers of revenue for any business. A lack of a solid sales and marketing strategy will leave a business struggling to generate sales and revenue.
- Attracting and Retaining Customers: Strong strategies in sales and marketing can help a business acquire new customers and expand its customer base. Not only that, but they should also help to retain those customers, build advocacy and lead to sustainable growth.
- Building Your Brand Identity: Sales and marketing activities help businesses build and reinforce their brand identity. This helps to differentiate them from competitors and create brand recognition and loyalty among customers.
- Keeping you Ahead: A high performing team can give a business a competitive edge by helping it stand out in a competitive marketplace and appeal to customers more effectively than its competitors.
- Market Insights: Information is key, and through gathering important market research data about customer trends, preferences, and behaviors, can help determine product development and marketing strategies.
Sales and Marketing Jobs
Both of these industries are fantastic for progression and development opportunities. There are well-defined career ladders that you can move up and within each area, there are a series of specialisms you can choose to focus on. Marketing often suits those with more of a creative passion, whereas if you are seeking a meritocratic work environment where you can earn based on your performance, sales could be for you.
Our latest sales and marketing roles
Roles we recruit for in Sales:
- Sales Development Representative
- Business Development Manager
- Account Manager
- Customer Success Manager
- Head of Sales / Sales Director
- Channel Sales
Roles we recruit for in Marketing:
- Digital Marketing - SEO, PPC, Social Media
- Campaign Marketing
- Growth Marketing
- Product Marketing
Marketing is especially popular with agencies - those companies focusing on providing specialist services to a selection of customers who may not have the staff internally to fulfill their chosen strategy. These environments can provide a variety of projects and exposure, and typically agencies when hiring at a more senior level will seek previous agency-side experience because of the way they work.
Skills you'll need to be successful in marketing
- Thinking Outside the Box: Marketing is all about being creative – coming up with fresh ideas to grab people's attention and make your product or service stand out from the crowd.
Analytical Skills:
You've got to be able to make sense of data and stats. Understanding what your customers are up to, what's hot in the market, and how well your campaigns are doing.- Communication Skills: Effective communication is essential for conveying marketing messages to target audiences.
- Seeing the Big Picture: Marketing's not just about throwing stuff out there and hoping for the best. You need to think ahead, set goals, and plan how you're going to achjeve them.
- Adaptability: The marketing landscape is constantly evolving with new technologies, trends, and consumer preferences.
Tech Savvy:
With the increasing importance of online platforms, proficiency in digital marketing channels such as social media, search engine optimisation (SEO), email marketing, and content marketing is essential.- Project Management: Marketing campaigns often involve multiple tasks, deadlines, and stakeholders. Strong project management skills are key to keeping everything on track.
- Customer Focus: Successful marketers prioritise understanding customer needs, preferences, and pain points to develop targeted marketing strategies that resonate with the target audience.
What makes a good salesperson?
Working in sales demands a specific set of skills tailored to persuading people and closing deals. Here's a breakdown of some of the key attributes of successful sales people:
- Ability to persuade and influence: Sales is all about being able to talk the talk. You've got to be able to win people over, whether you're chatting face-to-face or on the phone.
Resilience: You're going to hear "no" a lot in sales. But you've got to be able to shake it off and keep pushing. It's all about bouncing back and not taking rejection to heart.
Rejection is part and parcel of sales.- Listening Skills: It's not all about talking – you've got to be able to listen too. Understanding what your customers want and need is key to closing the deal.
- Negotiation Skills: Sales is a bit like a game of give and take. You've got to be able to compromise and find a deal that works for both you and the customer.
- Time Management: Sales can be a bit hectic. You've got loads of leads to follow up on, meetings to attend, and targets to hit. Being able to juggle it all is crucial.
- Relationship Building: It's not just about making the sale – it's about building long-term relationships with your customers. Being friendly, reliable, and trustworthy goes a long way.
- Product Knowledge: You need to know your stuff inside out. Customers will have questions, and you've got to be able to answer them like a pro.
- Confidence: Confidence is key in sales. If you believe in yourself and what you're selling, it'll come across to your customers too.