London is the ideal place for anyone seeking to start or further his or her career in Sales. The vibrant capital city is home to some of the worlds leading brands and organisations making London an attractive target for talented and dedicated professionals looking to develop their sales career. Despite the current economic pressures, sales job vacancies remain widely available in the capital.
Why chose a career in Sales?
The sales environment can be one of the most exciting areas of business and generally offers successful employees the chance of rapid career progression. The top sales executives in London no longer just look for the hard sell. They are professional people with a strong commercial background who act as a business consultant to their clients. Sales are achieved not only with an individual client, but also with other organisations, governments and global corporations. In London in particular, the successful candidate will be driven by success and will have a determination to succeed. The sales environment is certainly no place for the faint hearted and for the right candidate can be incredibly rewarding.
Outside of the retail environment, the majority of sales jobs are Business to Business (otherwise known as B2B). In the B2B environment employers will be searching for applicants who have a strong business background and with strong academic qualifications and great personal skills.
Some of the London based sales vacancies will require a degree of specialisation. For example export sales is an area where the employer will typically employ multi lingual candidates. Pharmaceutical sales would generally require the applicant to have a qualification in pharmaceuticals etc. You should target your search to organisations that require your individual skills. Rule out employers seeking candidates with qualifications in disciplines you do not have.
Aside from retail sales positions, sales jobs are incredibly varied and require different talents and skills in each different type of job. Sales jobs can include:
- Call Centre / Telesales
- Senior Sales Executive B2B
- Junior Sales Executive B2B
- National Account Management
- Recruitment Consultant
Executive London Sales Jobs
Many major London based organisations that trade business to business require executives at all levels to sell to their customer base. If you are applying for a Senior National Account Manager vacancy (or Senior B2B Sales Manager) vacancy you should have a solid background in a fast paced sales environment. It will be likely that you are not only responsible for maximising sales in your particular product group, but will also be responsible for the Sales Executives working beneath you.
London is notorious for paying some of the highest salaries in the UK, and Senior National Account Managers working for certain organisations can earn in excess of six figures plus bonuses, car and other benefits. The calibre of candidate will therefore need to be incredibly high. You should be able demonstrate your previous sales achievements and successes as well as selling yourself during the interview.
It is rare for such high level vacancies to be widely advertised in the local press. Senior Sales positions are often filled simply by recommendation, or the candidate being head hunted from a rival organisation. However, if you consider working with a suitable recruitment agency you may be in the right direction to finding your dream sales management position.
Austin Benn Recruitment Consultants are an online recruitment agency specialising in sales and marketing. They have a proven track record within the recruitment arena, placing candidates with employers for over 25 years. They have a number of vacancies advertised for Senior Sales Managers in Central London with salaries ranging from £22,000 right up to around £100,000+.
You can contact them directly on line, or visit their offices to arrange an interview.
You should also consider subscribing to a specialist publication, such as Marketing Week. In addition to publishing recent industry news (knowledge of which is vital for anyone who wants to progress in a London sales role) they also publish a variety of senior vacancies within the Sales and Marketing arena. These job advertisements are nationwide and are not restricted to London. Reading on topic publications such as Marketing Week can only help broaden your understanding of the current business environment, and having a good market knowledge will demonstrate that you are a candidate with a high degree of commercial and business understanding.
Call Centre Jobs in London
A number of well-known UK employers operate call centres within Greater London. The main focus of many of these centres is to maximise sales and this is generally targeted to individual customers. Within a call centre, Sales Executives are required at all levels and flexible terms are often available. Call centre work often suits those who need to work part time, or evening/night shifts.
There are a number of outlets advertising sales vacancies within London based call centres. The choice can often become confusing, so limit them down to the very best sources. Use your local newspaper, as they will regularly have classified job advertisements for London based call centres. Use specific, specialised recruitment agencies, both high street and online. Reed is national recruiter and advertises hundreds of vacancies for call centre workers. Alternatively, you should visit and upload your CV to monsterjobs.com. They specialise in advertising sales vacancies and matching your CV with potential employers.
For targeted London sales jobs you should use websites such as gumtree.co.uk or justlondonjobs.co.uk
Targeting your ideal London based employer
You may have already established your career within the sales environment, or you may just be starting. Either way you could consider targeting your ideal employer and contacting them directly. You could enquire with their HR department about current Sales Jobs or you could write speculatively, sending your CV and letter stating why you would be an asset to the organisation. Su successful sales candidate is one who can think “outside the box”. Sell yourself as well as you can in order to illustrate how you would sell for products or services for the organisation.
