The first Thursday of December is traditionally International Sales Day, started by the AA-ISP (American Association of Inside Sales Professionals) as a way to show appreciation and recognition for the millions of sales reps around the world. Being in sales is a true calling, for it combines many skills such as communication, agenda management, team spirit and a can-do attitude. When you take a step back and think about it, sales reps are the very life-blood of the organizations they work for. Companies would not be able to sustain themselves without the sales reps and sales support functions. As we are celebrating International Sales Day at Modis Life Sciences, we interviewed three sales colleagues on their sales careers and background.
“I have been a sales representative since august 2011,” says Sharon, a sales representative from our Sales & Marketing department. “Sales for me is about sharing my knowledge, convincing clients, but also independence and autonomy. Manage my portfolio as I want and as if it were my business. The fact that you can be independent,” highlights Sharon. According to her, a sales person is flexible, number-oriented and has the power of persuasion and empathy while maintaining autonomy combined with team spirit.
“For me, I have been in sales since 2007, almost 13 years now. Wow, reality check! Time flies when you are having fun,” confesses Ira, a sales representative from our Sales & Marketing department. “What I like most about sales is the variety of the job, every day is different, even during the day you need to adapt to different situations, your planning can change every minute, it sure is not a steady routine,” mentions Ira. What qualities make a great sales representative? That’s easy, according to Ira, “It’s being flexible, adaptive to the customer, being a great listener and an expert in body language (aka nonverbal communication). Also, it’s about being able to obtain much information in a short time and the ability to ‘read’ and interpret the market.”
“I’ve been a Business Development Manager (BDM) for almost three years now. I started as a consultant at Modis and I received the opportunity to grow and become a BDM, says Sophie. “The most interesting part of my job is the contact I have with the sector, market and clients. I like to stay up to date with the trends in the market, the evolution of the sector on short term and long term and with the clients. A signed contract for example, gives me a huge feeling of satisfaction”, revealed Sophie. “A great BDM should be passionate about his/her expertise sector. For this job, life long learning is really applicable”, laughs Sophie. “You have to be persuasive, social, dedicated and be a real entrepreneur. The client’s issue has to be your priority.”
The three ladies above, have accumulated +25 years of sales experience amongst them. What an opportunity to gather so much sales knowledge in one interview! As we are always eager to focus on successes and achievements, we couldn’t wait to ask questions to our dear colleagues to get to know their routines and to ask advice.