Sales Assistant
Entry Level // Sales Department
What does a Sales Assistant do?
The job of a Sales Assistant can vary hugely from day to day — their main role is to support the sales team. This can take the form of working on sales figures and returns, designing order forms, customer relations and providing administrative support.
Working in a sales team is busy and varied, and every day is different. It’s also exciting because you get to work on a variety of books. At some companies, you have the opportunity to travel to overseas book fairs, such as Frankfurt Book Fair, Bologna Children’s Book Fair, and London Book Fair.
Book fairs are where publishers from all over the world come together to try and sell their books overseas. They are major events for the sales department and the assistant’s job is to help with prep beforehand (arranging flights and accommodation, booking meetings and organising the shipping of the books).
What is a Sales Assistant good at?
- Organisation; ability to plan ahead and juggle priorities across multiple projects with a meticulous eye for detail
- Techy; excellent IT skills including knowledge of Word, Excel and PowerPoint
- Proactive; quick to respond to emails / calls and able to work well under pressure
- Collaboration; strong team player and excellent communicator who enjoys interacting with a range of people
Who does a Sales Assistant work with?
Sales Assistants usually report to a Sales Manager or Head of the Sales department. They also work closely with colleagues in Marketing and Publicity.
How do I become a Sales Assistant?
Most Sales Assistants come straight from university or a similar entry-level role, such as an internship or work experience.
You do not need to have done a degree in sales but it helps to have a firm understanding of how to interpret and analyse data.