A career in sales provides numerous advantages, including rapid career advancement, limitless earnings potential based on performance, and the fulfillment of positively impacting customers' lives by introducing new products or services. While certain aspects of B2B or B2C sales may evolve due to artificial intelligence, the demand for skilled B2B sales professionals in complex environments will persist and cannot be substituted by AI. This is especially true for high-value sales, which rely heavily on trust, relationship-building, and rapport, making the human touch irreplaceable.
There are some essential qualities and skills that you need to possess to ensure you remain competitive in the job market as a high-value B2B sales executive. You will need exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, charm, charisma, and professionalism, and considerable drive and self-motivation. You need to be target-driven and motivated, and maintain solid and consistent resilience to bounce back from setbacks because you will be faced with multiple "no's" before a customer decides to say yes, with some being harsher than others.
You also need to be passionate about understanding what makes your prospects tick, what their needs are, and how to package the solution in a way that appeals to them and is persuasive and convincing. Finally, it's important to remember that flexibility to travel within and sometimes outside of your region is key for many of these roles.
Now, here are five sales-based roles that pay significantly more than others, which you may want to consider:
VP Of Sales
Of course, you can't really go much further up than being a vice president of your company's sales division. In this senior leadership role, your primary responsibility is to oversee and ensure the success of sales in the business and formulate strategies that drive revenue growth, enabling the business to achieve maximum profit potential in new markets. You'll be setting quarterly and annual sales targets and goals in line with the development of a sales strategy, and you will manage the overall sales budget.
What qualifications/requirements are needed?
- Bachelor's degree and/or master's degree in a business-related field is favorable
- Considerable extensive experience in sales at various levels
- Familiarity and solid understanding of the company, how it is positioned in the market, and its core products and sales strategies
- Leadership and people management skills
- CRM knowledge (company-specific and other widely-used CRMs such as Salesforce)
Average salary range:
$208,525 to $270,894
Enterprise Sales/Account Executive
Enterprise sales executives are yet another form of B2B solutions role; they build a portfolio of clients through prospecting, pitching, negotiating, and closing new accounts each day. In this role, you will be expected to be proactive in identifying customer needs and creating solutions to suit their organizations. You will be focused on revenue generation through strategic customer partnerships while evaluating and improving sales processes to drive growth and profitability.
What qualifications/requirements are needed?
- Bachelor's degree in business and/or marketing
- Five years experience as an account executive or in senior sales and customer-facing roles
- Ability to communicate with, understand, and anticipate the needs of multiple stakeholders
- Industry-specific expertise
- CRM knowledge
Average salary range:
$168,000 to $303,000
Realtor
A realtor is a real estate agent—the only difference is that a realtor is a member of the National Association of Realtors. As a realtor, you could choose to specialize in specific markets and increase your earnings based on niche expertise, such as residential properties including luxury homes, commercial real estate, and industrial real estate. From day to day, you would be actively involved in advertising, conducting guided property tours, and closing deals with potential renters/buyers and your client (the landlord or seller).
What qualifications/requirements are needed?
- Complete pre-licensing course
- Apply for a real estate licence
- Undertake state exam
- Obtain active membership in the NAR (National Association of Realtors) for continuous professional development and adhere to their standards and ethics in your practice
Average salary range:
$44,000 to $133, 593, depending on your state and the market
Medical Device Sales Rep
In your role as a medical device sales rep, you would be responsible for promoting and selling medical devices and products to a range of clients within health care Including hospitals medical centers, and doctors' offices. You would also be cold-calling prospective buyers, demonstrating items such as medical equipment, and maintaining long-term contracts and relationships as a trusted supplier.
What qualifications/requirements are needed?
- A bachelor's degree is preferred but not mandatory; specializing in business, biology, or life sciences is an advantage
- Certifications such as the Registered Medical Sales Representative (RMSR) by NAMSR (National Association of Medical Sales Representatives)
- Product knowledge
- CRM knowledge
Average salary range:
$90,245 to $130,362
Pharmaceutical Sales Rep
As a pharmaceutical sales rep, you would be selling and promoting prescription drugs and educating healthcare providers about their risks and benefits. From day to day, you'd be found building strong relationships, traveling extensively, and maintaining an extensive understanding of the healthcare industry to be able to market your products effectively and meet the needs of your clients.
What qualifications/requirements are needed?
- Degree specialism in science-related field such as biology or chemistry is ideal; also consider a degree in business or marketing, although certainly not a strict requirement for the role
- Strong marketing and sales acumen
- Working knowledge of pharmacology
- A network of healthcare contacts is preferable to being successful
- CRM knowledge
Average salary range:
$58,000 to $103,000
How Can You Find A High-Paying Sales Job?
Once you've established that sales are indeed the best career for you, after considering your personality and the potential to travel and visit clients in person and hold frequent meetings, and evaluating the impact of this on your personal life and circumstances, there are a number of ways you can find the best sales jobs.
Aside from using regular "generalist" job boards such as LinkedIn, Indeed, or ZipRecruiter, you can try other sales-specific job boards such as:
- SalesJobs.com
- SalesHeads.com
- MedReps.com
You should also reach out directly to your network to see if they have any connections or could point you in the direction of a key decision-maker. Some of your old contacts who may have been previous clients may have opportunities for you, or at least know of others who have job opportunities, depending on your legal agreements of course.
If any of the above role descriptions appeal to you, why not give your career a new lease of life and pursue a rewarding career in sales now? Sure, there will be times when your work is stressful or highly demanding, and you will face multiple setbacks from clients who ghost you or are not interested. But over time, if you persist in your career endeavors, you will become a well-established and respected professional in your field, win the confidence of more potential clients, and reap the benefits of eye-watering salaries, bonuses, and commission pay, while solving their pain points and making their lives easier.