Job Description for a Salesperson for a Dot-Com Business

For the most part, you’re going to be selling online advertising services in one form or another when you work in the dot-com Internet industry. Internet-based companies are either selling website services so companies can market their services or selling the kinds of services that back up the marketing efforts of clients.

No matter what end of the business you’re involved with, you’ll find yourself prospecting for new clients at some point. While you might work for an extremely popular company that gets plenty of in-bound sales requests, expect to mix up those sales with others you find yourself. You might do cold-calling door-to-door or make sales through your own marketing efforts online that could include social marketing and email blasts.

Before you can make a presentation about the Internet services you can provide for new clients, you have to analyze their current website, what kinds of marketing tools they’re using and what kinds of goals they have in mind. You can’t come up with the best solution without taking the time to research potential new clients and interview them about their needs and wants. Then you’ll be able to come up with the best possible solutions and get the client’s signature on a contract.

Expect to undergo extensive training in the various services and products your company carries. While you’re selling one service to a client, you can boost your bottom line by cross-selling other company offerings and expanding your relationship with your current customers. After all, it’s always easier to sell to a current client than it is to build a new relationship. Learn new products as they’re developed, and keep up with industry changes as they affect you and your company.

While selling is certainly a people-oriented career, even when you work in cyberspace there still is paperwork to do. Your contracts and files may be kept electronically, but they still need to be filled out and completed after every sale. You have to invoice clients, and often write up the deal you made with the client and get appropriate signatures to seal the deal.

Networking is an integral part of every industry sales force. In the Internet industry, you’ll primarily put your networking efforts into tech groups and conferences where you can meet other companies with whom you can partner. Some of your best referrals will come from other Internet service companies that serve the same kinds of customers with different complementary services and products.

Advertising sales agents earned a median annual salary of $50,380 in 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On the low end, advertising sales agents earned a 25th percentile salary of $34,380, meaning 75 percent earned more than this amount. The 75th percentile salary is $76,050, meaning 25 percent earn more. In 2016, 149,900 people were employed in the U.S. as advertising sales agents.