I actually should also mention that doorknocking sales or telemarketing is something you should never have to do for full-time work upon graduation, although I would highly recommend some experience in that whilst you're at uni, as it will help you understand the needs of the consumer, and how you can vary your pitch on a personal level to encourage sales.**freakstar87** said:
However, field sales is a probability, as some graduate programs actually make this compulsory (e.g. Unilever's). However, sales at this level isn't what you think. Basically, you would interact with different businesses, such as corner stores, persuading them to stock the company's product. To do so, you would formulate a unique pitch to each store. For example, let's say you have Lipton Iced Tea.
Chong's Groceries only stocks Nestea. However, you know that Lipton outsells Nestea by something like four-to-one. So, you would use this as a pitch. You also have the freedom to change the price and the quantity sent to Chong.
Another element of this job, is persuading larger retailers to accept your promotional tactics. Remember the advertising agency and the brand manager could think of a fantastic campaign. However, if Woolworths refuses to use any elements of the campaign in-store, all the money your managers have spent have gone to waste. Ultimately, your job is to actually reach the customer in the store by negotiating with its owners.
Most people don't tend to stay in this area of sales, although some people fall in love with it, and don't even want to go to brand management. The main reason for this is a sense of ownership. You know how many millions dollars of revenue you are directly responsible for: e.g. I was talking to a guy working in sales for Unilever (Lipton Iced Tea) and he increased their sales revenue by something like $20 million whilst he was just in the grad program.
