The department of sales is crucial for any business. The employees of the sales department are often called salespeople. These salespeople work collaboratively with the marketing team to achieve one single goal, which is to maximize the company’s profits. Chicago being a trade center for various business avenues has many opportunities for salespeople. It provides aspiring salespeople with a great opportunity to learn and grow professionally in an ever-changing and evolving economic scene like that of Chicago’s. Keep reading…
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About Chicago Sales Jobs
Chicago has a diverse economy and is the national transportation hub courtesy of its central geographical location. Moreover, Chicago is also among America’s top financial hubs. The city is known for the trade shows that it hosts every year. This economic diversity, financial strength, and trading make Chicago one of the most suitable cities for sales jobs.
America is currently providing jobs to around 2 million sales representatives. While Chicago alone had more than 135,000 people hired for various positions in the sales sector in 2018. Currently, there are more than a staggering 20,000 employers in Chicago looking to hire talented salespeople. This figure alone speaks volumes about Chicago’s strong job market for salespeople.
Typical Roles and Responsibilities
Probably one of the most common positions salespeople are seen working for is a Retail Sales Associate. A Retail Sales Associate assists the customers all through the buying process. They find out what the customers are looking for and suggest appropriate products that best fulfill the customer’s needs. This salesperson may also manage the retailer’s inventory and may be asked to gain information about the products that he/she is selling to provide better assistance to the customers.
Then the topmost sales job position is that of a Sales Director. A sales Director leads the sales team of any organization. He/she oversees the company’s sales activities and prepares sales reports, sets milestones, and works with his/her team to achieve them. The Sales Director also tries to foster healthy relationships with the organization’s clients to make them stay with the business longer. He/she conducts regular meetings with the sales manager to get a briefing about sales performance.
To manage their remote sales, organizations hire regional sales managers. Regional Sales Managers are responsible for managing sales in their assigned regions. They observe trends and consumer behavior in their areas and report to the organization to assist them in developing production, marketing, and distribution strategies accordingly. They keep a sharp eye on the performance of their organization in their region and improve the areas where they are lagging. These salespeople may also be directly involved in the hiring process of new people in their teams.
Sales departments of most tech organizations have sales engineers. Sales Engineers communicate with existing and prospective clients and help them understand the technicalities of their products. They interact with the customers and endeavor to engineer their products as per the customers’ liking. Sales engineers may also train the clients’ staff to make them understand the SOPs of their products. They may also generate annual engineering reports and must keep refreshing their technical knowledge by attending workshops and reading relevant literature.
Job Statistics
A high employee turnover rate is more costly in the sales department than in any other department. Currently, the salespeople turnover rate in the US hovers around 27% and would be similar, if not greater in Chicago. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a 1.7% increment in the sales sector employment rate. The sales sector offers attractive payment to the top tier of its employees and the annual salary ranges from around $125,000 for the sales director to $36,000 for the retail sales associate. However, the salaries may vary depending on the size of the organization.
Employee Feedback
A sales job can be very stressful, say some of the experienced salespeople.
Even then, most sales employees love their jobs because it helps them in making a meaningful impact on the lives and businesses of their clients. Moreover, some people belonging to the higher level of sales are appreciative of the pay and benefits. However, people in the bottom tier are often seen complaining about low pays, bad management though they sometimes acknowledge the benefits they get.
Conclusion
In the past, people predicted that e-commerce will hit the sales job market and make sales jobs obsolete. This prediction didn’t turn out to be true and today there are thousands of sales jobs in Chicago alone.
Sales sector in Chicago provides varying jobs to a great number of sales professionals and help them grow in their careers. Most sales jobs come with a decent figure on the salary slip. Many salespeople appear to be satisfied with the benefits their jobs have but most people mention how sales jobs can be very demanding and sometimes low paying too.