I have a personal friend working in one of the leading banks (in the region) as a Direct Sales Representative. I had an opportunity to interview him about the position, responsibilities, academic qualifications, and training requirements. Critically, the Direct Sales Representative’s position is fundamental to the bank as it assumes core and integral dealings. The position is within the sales department headed by the director of retail banking (Fitch, 15). The head of sales is the second in command within the sales department and manages a team of regional sales managers. Within the team, there are sales managers from diverse sections and branches of the bank. The duties of the direct sales representative include the following:
- They initiate first contact with clients and manage relationships.
- They directly sell the bank’s products, including accounts, loans, and credit cards.
- They offer customer care services to clients. This includes answering customer queries, assisting them in filling in forms, providing directions, and assisting customers in other application areas.
- They proactively market for both lending and deposits from current and prospective clients.
- Finally, they achieve monthly, quarterly, and yearly sales targets.
The holder of the direct sales representative position must have certain qualifications that the bank’s Human Resource department specifies. These qualifications include:
- A university degree in a business-related course.
- A post-graduate diploma in sales and marketing or customer care.
- Computer literacy and excellent communication skills.
The position is tasking, engages, and entails more than the roles described above. The salesperson has to initiate contacts and manage the bank’s relationship with the clients. Therefore, the person must source for clients. It also requires the salesperson to promote the bank’s products and services (Walsh & Robert, 30). Similarly, the employee may directly sell the bank’s products. Once the job holder gets a client, he or she has to assist the client fill in the account opening form or the loan application form and then take a photo of the client. This is an important consideration in diverse contexts. Operating in favor of customers (when it deems appropriate) is demanded in order to capture and retain various customers.
The direct sales representative must have adequate knowledge of the bank’s products, services, and operations so as to provide excellent customer care services (Fitch, 45). This, therefore, requires the sales staff to regularly hold meetings and remind themselves about the products available, the services they offer, and the bank charges. The salesperson must be tactical when offering customer care services. Additionally, one must be a good and keen listener. It is crucial to establish and embrace such qualities for an individual to be a competent salesperson.
Customer care provision, product knowledge, selling skills, and good presentation skills are qualities that would benefit a person performing the duties of a direct sales representative. These virtues enable the concerned sales officer to present him or herself before clients, be aware of good grooming values, and acquire appropriate soft skills (Walsh & Robert, 58). Product knowledge enables concerned salespeople to assist clients with ease. Seminars and workshops are some of the training methods that would be most appropriate in this context. Training on the job should be continuous, appropriate, relevant, and dynamic to the market conditions since the bank is large and offers diverse products and services.
Works Cited
Fitch, Thomas. Career Opportunities in Banking, Finance, and Insurance. New York, NY: Ferguson, 2007. Print.
Walsh, Richard, and Robert Adams. The Complete Job Search Book for College Students: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding the Right Job. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2007. Print.