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Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products

Sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers where technical or scientific knowledge is required in such areas as biology, engineering, chemistry, and electronics, normally obtained from at least 2 years of postsecondary education.

What you’d do

  • Negotiate prices or terms of sales or service agreements.
  • Prepare and submit sales contracts for orders.
  • Visit establishments to evaluate needs or to promote product or service sales.
  • Maintain customer records, using automated systems.
  • Answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, or credit terms.
  • Quote prices, credit terms, or other bid specifications.
  • Contact new or existing customers to discuss how specific products or services can meet their needs.
  • Emphasize product features, based on analyses of customers' needs and on technical knowledge of product capabilities and limitations.

Skills that matter

  • Persuasion
  • Speaking
  • Active Listening
  • Negotiation
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Reading Comprehension

How to get there

Considerable preparation: most need a four-year bachelor's degree

Also called

  • Inside Sales Representative
  • Marketing Representative
  • Sales Representative

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