Sales support assistant

Sales support assistants perform a variety of general sales support tasks, such as supporting the development of sales plans, managing clerical activities of sales efforts, verifying client invoices and other accounting documents or records, compiling data, and preparing reports for other company departments.

The duties of a sales support assistant include, but are not limited to:

• Answering customer inquiries, scheduling meetings, and sales appointments, and following up with customers about their order status.
• Compiling a daily list of sales leads, delegating leads to the sales department, and providing sales data and guides to the sales department.
• Developing and monitoring performance indicators for sales and staff members, managing sales tracking tools, and compiling reports.
• Recording sales trends and liaising with account managers to develop sales strategies.
• Creating and processing orders in a timely manner, processing requests for rush orders, and reviewing pending orders and customer requests to ensure customer satisfaction.
• Managing customer accounts, following up with customers for administrative purposes, and providing troubleshooting assistance for orders, account statuses, and other problems.
• Performing data entry tasks for sales figures, metrics, and other relevant information and maintaining an organized and accessible filing system.
• Handling administrative duties for the company and its executives and management teams.
• Scheduling customer meetings and conferences.
• Reporting any unusual activity to your supervisors.

Sales support assistants work in an office environment and have a relatively sedentary position that requires long hours sitting at a desk. Most of their work is done on a computer. They also utilize business machines such as facsimiles, copiers, and printers. The environment is fast paced as most sales organizations and departments are very goal driven and must meet sales quotas.

The typical sales support assistant work a traditional 40 hour work week; office hours are typically 8 am – 5 pm Monday through Friday with weekends and major holidays off.

The following job titles also refer to sales support assistant:

registered sales assistant
sales clerical assistant
sales associate
sales accounts clerk
salesclerk
accounts assistant
sales operations assistant
sales officer
group sales assistant

No prior sales experience is required to obtain a position as a sales support assistant, although it greatly increases the chances of employment. A college degree can substitute for sales experience and vice versa. Many recent college graduates take sales support assistant positions before moving into higher level positions. Student internships often provide open doors to employment as students gain valuable experience and are able to interface with company decision makers.

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

• the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
• the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
• the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Sales support assistant is a Skill level 2 occupation.

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to sales support assistant.

tax clerk
engineering assistant
cashier
investment clerk
secretary

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of sales support assistant. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of sales support assistant with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

fundraising assistant
legal administrative assistant
conveyance clerk
accounting assistant
administrative assistant

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of sales support assistant.

• Bookkeeping regulations: The methods and regulations involved in the process of accurate bookkeeping.
• Sales activities: The supply of goods, sale of goods and the related financial aspects. The supply of goods entails the selection of goods, import and transfer. The financial aspect includes the processing of purchasing and sales invoices, payments etc. The sale of goods implies the proper presentation and positioning of the goods in the shop in terms of acessibility, promotion, light exposure.

These skills are necessary for the role of sales support assistant.

• Perform business research: Search and collect information relevant for the development of businesses in different fields ranging from legal, accounting, finance, up to commercial matters.
• Handle mail: Handle mail considering data protection issues, health and safety requirements, and specifications of different kinds of mail.
• Perform office routine activities: Program, prepare, and perform activities required to be performed everyday in offices such as mailing, receiving supplies, updating managers and employees, and keeping operations running smoothly.
• Perform clerical duties: Perform administrative tasks such as filing, typing up reports and maintaining mail correspondence.

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of sales support assistant. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Customer service: Processes and principles related to the customer, client, service user and to personal services; these may include procedures to evaluate customer’s or service user’s satisfaction.

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of sales support assistant. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Order supplies: Command products from relevant suppliers to get convenient and profitable products to purchase.
• Carry out sales analysis: Examine sales reports to see what goods and services have and have not sold well.
• Check accounting records: Revise the accounting records of the quarter and year and ensure that the accounting information reflects with accuracy the financial transactions of the company.
• Process refunds: Resolve customer inquiries for returns, exchange of merchandise, refunds or bill adjustments. Follow organisational guidelines during this process.
• Implement sales strategies: Carry out the plan to gain competitive advantage on the market by positioning the company’s brand or product and by targeting the right audience to sell this brand or product to.
• Analyse customer service surveys: Analyse results from surveys completed by passengers/customer; analyse results to identify trends and draw conclusions.
• Manage accounts: Manage the accounts and financial activities of an organisation, supervising that all the documents are correctly maintained, that all the information and calculations are correct, and that proper decisions are being made.
• Issue sales invoices: Prepare the invoice of goods sold or services provided, containing individual prices, the total charge, and the terms. Complete order processing for orders received via telephone, fax and internet and calculate the customer’s final bill.
• Keep records on sales: Keep records of the activities of the sales of products and services, tracking which products and services were sold when and maintaining customer records, in order to facilitate improvements in the sales department.

4311 – Accounting and bookkeeping clerks

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References

1. Sales support assistant – ESCO
2. Sales Assistants – StateUniversity.com
3. Sales Support Specialist Job Description – Betterteam
4. Featured image: Photo by Arlington Research on Unsplash