Recently, there seems to have been an increase in the number of sales jobs that have been advertised on this site, and beyond.
A quick glance at the job listings here on Spirited Careers shows titles like “consumer insights lead”; “commercial excellence executive” and “head of private client sales”.
I was inspired to take a closer look at jobs in sales and find out what they’re all about.
An article by Vignesh Saravanan J on Linkedin last year gives a handy paragraph explaining “how sales jobs have changed in the last two decades”. Vignesh asserts:
“In the early 2000s, sales roles were primarily focused on direct selling, relationship building, and field visits. Over time, technology, digital marketing, and AI-driven insights have reshaped the sales process across industries.”
I would agree that the perception of jobs in sales has changed over the years – from someone who doesn’t work in sales! Having worked in retail extensively in the past, I thought I had a reasonable grasp of transactional sales; you have a product or service, you market that product or service; find a potential buyer; and then manage a transaction which results a sale.
But things do seem to be very much more sophisticated now, with job adverts listing a considerable number of skills that they are looking for; and certainly more skills than I felt I had when I was in the retail sector!
Here are some key skills that our members are looking for in sales jobs at the moment:
1. Leadership skills – the ability and confidence to lead high-performing teams of people in order to deliver on an organisation's commercial strategy.
2. Customer service skills – this encompasses things like relationship building, being organised, and understanding people.
3. Product knowledge – very important in the Scotch Whisky industry of course, it’s essential to understand the product which you are selling. It helps your customers build confidence and makes it easier for them to decide to buy.
4. Digital and AI analytics skills – organisations love data. It helps justify the past and predict, as much as possible, the future. If you can build a skill base in this area, it will set you up will for a career in sales.
What do you think? Do you feel you would be cut out for a role in sales? You can take this Skills Assessment from the National Careers Service to give you an indication.
There seem to be plenty of sales jobs to apply for at the moment if you are ready!
