Business Development

• Sales people are responsible for making sales calls and sales visits to develop and expand their companies market share. The business-development process is the primary responsibility of the sales person. Companies must continue to grow in order to avoid being enveloped by their competitors. New customers and clients open up opportunities for lateral and vertical sales. The strategy is to get into a new company with one product or service and mushroom the business from there.
  
  

Servicing

• Sales people must service and develop their current book of business. Your current book of business is a continued revenue stream for both the sales associate and the company. It is just as important to keep your current customers as it is to develop new ones. Current customers present opportunities for lateral and vertical sales. Bolt-on sales are one of the largest driving factors behind revenue growth. By servicing your current book of business you hope to generate mutual goodwill and buyer loyalty. This ensures their continued patronage.
  
  

Customer Service

• The sales associate is responsible for customer service and product support questions. Sales people develop relationships with their customers and clients. Although companies have billing and customer service departments, many clients and customers would prefer to handle their issues through the sales rep that they have established a relationship with. This means that sales reps may need to provide billing information as well as product and technical information.
  
  

Planning

• Sales associates are responsible to assist in the planning and development of sales campaigns. This keeps the sales associate at the front of development and planning. The sales professional is the spokesman for the service or product being sold. They must be more familiar with their companies products and services than any other employee. By participating in the planning process the sales associate is at the forefront of the process.
  
  

Administrative Duties

• Sales associates are responsible for all of the administrative work and paperwork generated by their business development and servicing activities. They must maintain proper records and filing policies. They must work with billing and product or service fulfillment to ensure customer satisfaction. The sales associate works as the intermediary between the clients, customers, and company staff. It is the sales associates final duty to ensure that the client or customer is being serviced.