6 Different Types of Sales Roles You Should be Familiar With

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Check out the types of sales roles and decide which type of sales job is right for you? Here are 6 different types of sales roles you should be familiar with.

There are different types of sales roles in most mid-sized and larger organizations. Each role is a cog in a larger sales machine that is designed to focus each rep on different sectors in the market.

So, if you want to be a successful salesperson and succeed in sales then learning about different types of sales roles and responsibilities is a quite essential thing to do.

types of sales roles

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In this guide, we are going to explain 6 different types of sales roles you should be familiar with. Here we go:

Sales Development

The sales development team works at the top of the sales funnel. They are the workhorses of the sales organization.

They pick up the phone and they smile and dial. They work through a large list of sales leads and make upwards of 150-300 dials a day. Many enterprises have auto-dialers that enable callers to bang out phone calls at incredible volumes each day.

The goal of the sales development team is to set up appointments for presentations by the closers. They may be required to schedule 5-10 appointments or demos a day.

Many teams utilize databases like InfoFree.com for sales leads. The great benefit to services like this is that you can search, select and view millions of sales leads to call through. That means if you have a large team of sales development reps, there will be no shortage of prospects to call.

This is often an entry-level position that is a gateway to becoming a full sales rep.

Inside Sales

Sometimes, they can also be called account executives, account managers or simply sales representatives. Whatever their title is, their main job is to close deals over the phone. They use the teleconferencing software and the phone to do demo’s online.

This used to be the department that did smaller, transactional deals. But in recent years, inside sales reps have been called upon to work larger and larger deals.

Outside Sales

These reps are also called field sales reps and enterprise sales reps. In large companies, they may even be called client directors.

In some larger companies, client directors may be working such large deals that they may have only one client. On top of that, they may have an entire team they work with to service and sell to that one client.

They use their computers and phones for meetings and online demos. But they also travel and meet clients face to face. Even in the age of virtual meetings, traveling to see key clients face to face still has tremendous value.

Account Managers

This group takes over existing accounts and extracts more revenue out of them. They are very customer service focused, looking for opportunities upsell additional products and services.

They are routinely called ‘farmers’ within an organization because they work the land that is already producing revenue. The previous group that focuses on getting new clients are called ‘hunters’.

Sales Engineers

If you understand the sales engineering (It’s a hybrid of sales and engineering that exists in industrial and commercial markets.) then you will be familiar with the sales engineer’s role nicely.

For companies that sell complex technology, there may be a group of technologically savvy engineers who understand the bells and whistles of the technology and also the communication skills to impart that knowledge to others.

Some sales engineers come from the engineering or product development department. Others are sales reps that study the products so well that they get shifted into the sales engineering team.

Sales Enablement

This is a relatively new group of emerging experts and consultants within a sales organization. Their job descriptions are still in flux, but the main purpose of this group is to optimize and maximize the sales force.

That might mean they work as administrators for the CRM, source and schedule sales training, analyze sales data and other infrastructure duties.

Final Thoughts

There isn’t just one type of sales function in a company. By recognizing these different sales roles, you can place the right people in the right functions so everyone is ultimately successful as a team.

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