When it comes to contributing to the bottom line and working with customers, the field sales representative is an essential position in any company’s workforce. Sales reps are tasked with interacting with targeted and appropriate leads, selling them on a product or service, and closing and sealing the deal.

Field sales is one of the most challenging sales positions to fill and an even more difficult position to excel in. When considering just how important this role is, we set out to find some common characteristics of field sales representatives who are successful. These include having excellent time management, being able to handle pipeline management, and the ability to have strong communication.

What Is a Field Sales Representative?

Those who work as sales reps may have a wide range of tasks, including partnering with account managers and other third-party vendors to act as liaisons between the sales team and their clients. Field sales representatives, or field salespeople, travel to their specified customers on a regular basis for consultative purposes. This can include helping clients make future purchasing decisions, enhancing customer service and resolving issues that could lead to lost business.

​​​So what is a field sales representative? A field sales representative is essentially a person that functions as the middleman between a company and its clients. They provide and maintain relationships with customers, ensure that their clients are satisfied with the product and services, and are responsible for maximizing profitability.

What Is a Field Sales Representative Responsible For?

To begin the discussion of the role of a field sales representative, one should first understand what a sales rep is. A sales rep is a person whose job it is to generate new business and/or maintain and increase existing business by creating long-term relationships with customers, closing as many sales as possible through impressing customers, explaining products/services and interacting with them. Generally, they are responsible for “getting the sale” using various customer sales methods.

The role of a sales representative with regards to job duties can depend on the nature of the business they are selling for, but common responsibilities that all sales representatives perform include forecasting sales, getting customers to buy products, as well as making customer presentations. Some skills that are important for a field sales representative include excellent time management, being able to handle pipeline management, and strong communication.

Achieving monthly and annual sales targets

A sales representative’s job is to generate revenue for the business. When working for a new employer, representatives should develop a plan for achieving revenue targets. The primary objective of field sales representatives is to generate revenue. 

They need to ensure that they are meeting the targets they set with their sales manager, both on an individual basis and as part of a team. They must also understand how their performance affects the overall success of their company and contribute to its overall bottom line.

Building relationships with existing and prospective accounts

Field sales representatives can build relationships with customers by following up with leads and prospects who have already expressed interest in the product or service and by identifying new opportunities with existing customers or new prospects.

The role of a field sales representative is to cultivate relationships with customers and develop long-term loyalty. Reps build these relationships by becoming trusted advisors, offering relevant products and services, and understanding the challenges their customers face.

Cultivating new leads

The role of a field sales representative is to cultivate new leads, build relationships with clients and prospects, and further the company’s goals. They work to protect existing businesses and to find opportunities to open new accounts. Field sales representatives must use all the skills they have gained through their experience with the company to keep revenue targets balanced.

Collaborating with internal sales and marketing teams

A field sales representative is responsible for collaborating with internal sales and marketing teams to identify opportunities, gain access to qualified prospects, and proactively engage these prospects.

Collaborating with internal sales and marketing teams is very important for field sales representatives; they must collaborate with people in other departments within their organization, such as marketing and customer service, so that they can provide the best possible customer experience. This means that they should be familiar with the company’s products and services so that they can answer questions from customers about them.

Keeping a record of sales, deals, and agreements with accounts in the defined territory

The first step in identifying the tasks of field sales representatives is to define a territory for them to work in. The territories should be well defined so that sales representatives know where their routes are and the business owners know which sales representative covers each territory.

Overseeing a territory means you are responsible for sales and customer service at all accounts within the region, as assigned by sales managers.

Being the face of the company

Field sales representatives have to be flexible enough to go around to customers and find them. Their work hours constantly vary. Being out of the office might scare some people, but it actually helps these sales reps get more customers. Throughout the day, they either meet up with customers or call potential clients. But field sales representatives have a lot of responsibilities related to not only their jobs but also their relationships with their colleagues in other departments.

It’s partly why they are called “representatives.” Regardless of the job title, they represent the brand with all their interactions and should be the face and voice of the brand. Their role is to ensure the sales operations and processes work according to plan. 

Field Sales Representative Must-Haves

The importance of sales in every company cannot be undermined. Sales is a field that always demands a high level of communication with customers, and this is done by sales representatives. Field sales reps play a very important role in the success of an organization. 

While modern field sales representatives must know how to utilize technology, they continue to be well-rounded in all of their abilities. This is because the human connection remains irreplaceable; thus, salespeople continue to hold the top position in the emerging jobs list.

Self-motivated and dependable

Field sales representatives must be self-motivated. They should be able to work independently, without supervision, be responsible and dependable and know how to handle a variety of situations that may arise on the job.

This position is heavily customer service driven, so understanding and demonstrating the core values of attitude, approachability, awareness, and culture are critical. Field sales representatives are expected to work independently in a team-based environment.

Outstanding interpersonal skills

Sales representatives must have outstanding interpersonal skills. This includes being able to listen and understand what the customer is saying and then being able to put verbal words to it. It also means that you should be able to do the same when talking about your product with the customer, who may or may not know technical jargon for the most part (since, after all, it’s their money).

The field sales representative role is one that requires one to be extremely comfortable interacting with others. As the first point of contact, you will be the face of your company and should possess outstanding interpersonal skills. In addition, you will also need to demonstrate a keen ability to listen to customers and understand their requirements.

Adept at sales and negotiation

There are few roles that require as much interaction with other people as a field sales representative. Reps must also be adept at sales and negotiation because they have to lead a disciplined negotiation process.

Field sales representatives must have a knack for negotiation. This skill set is important in building a proposal and eventually selling it to the customer. A rep must also be adept at evaluating an opportunity’s earning potential. The process of leading a disciplined negotiation can be difficult, as many high-stakes negotiations present a wide array of options and contingencies. However, the right field sales representative will take full advantage of these features in order to maximize their potential gain.

The most effective way to close a sale is to have a well-informed and prepared field sales representative. These individuals know their prospects, are aware of what products will benefit them the most, and can create customized packages that are geared toward the needs of each customer. Working with your high-performing field sales representatives will allow you to continue growing your business and meeting the needs of your customers.

Field sales representatives are well compensated and seen as key players in their respective organizations. They can advance their careers with a range of skills, making them highly desirable to hiring managers.