Use this Sales Representative job description template to attract candidates who can understand customer needs, explain suitable solutions, and progress opportunities reliably. Adapt the product range, customer type, territory, sales cycle, and account responsibilities to your business.

A Sales Representative sells products or services by developing customer conversations and guiding agreed next steps toward a purchase. The title can cover inside, field, business-to-business, or consumer sales. This template uses a broad customer-facing sales scope without assuming a particular industry, channel, or level of technical specialization.

A Sales Representative connects customer needs with appropriate offers and dependable sales follow-through. Their key responsibilities include:

• Finding relevant prospects and opening purposeful sales conversations.

• Understanding customer needs before recommending products or services.

• Explaining proposals, prices, and product limitations accurately.

• Following up opportunities and maintaining clear sales records.

• Coordinating accepted orders with the teams responsible for delivery.

Sales Representative Job Description Template

We are looking for a Sales Representative to develop customer relationships and turn suitable opportunities into well-managed sales. The ideal candidate asks thoughtful questions, explains value clearly, and follows through without applying pressure or making unsupported promises. You will learn our offer, understand where it fits, and help customers navigate their purchasing decisions with accurate information.

In this role, you will contact prospects, discuss customer needs, prepare approved offers, and maintain current opportunity records. You will coordinate with colleagues on product questions, availability, and commercial terms, then help ensure accepted orders are handed over clearly. You will also report customer feedback, manage agreed follow-ups, and escalate requests that exceed your pricing or contractual authority.

Sales Representative Roles and Responsibilities

Good sales execution combines useful customer conversations with disciplined follow-up. Core responsibilities include:

• Research assigned prospects and accounts to identify a relevant reason for contact rather than relying on indiscriminate outreach.

• Contact potential customers through approved channels, respecting communication preferences and applicable outreach rules.

• Ask questions about customer needs, current arrangements, decision criteria, and timing before recommending a solution.

• Explain product or service capabilities accurately, including relevant limitations, dependencies, and options that may affect suitability.

• Prepare quotations and proposals using approved pricing, product information, and commercial terms, checking details before delivery.

• Respond to objections by clarifying concerns and providing evidence rather than inventing features or unapproved concessions.

• Agree realistic next steps with customers and follow up at appropriate intervals without creating misleading urgency.

• Maintain customer and opportunity records with meaningful notes, current status, and clear next actions in the sales system.

• Coordinate specialist input when a customer's technical, legal, or operational question falls outside the representative's expertise.

• Confirm order details and pass accepted commitments to the delivery or account team with supporting customer context.

• Review sales activity and opportunity progress with the manager, identifying obstacles early and updating forecasts honestly.

• Share recurring customer feedback, competitor observations, and product concerns through the appropriate internal channels.

Sales Representative Requirements and Qualifications

The strongest entry criteria reflect the actual offer and buying process. Relevant qualifications include:

• Experience in sales, customer service, account support, or another role involving needs discovery and persuasive communication.

• Clear questioning and listening skills that help uncover customer priorities without jumping immediately to a product pitch.

• Ability to explain product information and commercial terms in language suited to the customer's level of familiarity.

• Confidence handling objections while respecting a customer's decision and the limits of approved sales claims.

• Numerical care when checking quantities, quotations, discounts, and the commercial details included in an offer.

• Familiarity with customer relationship management tools, or comparable experience maintaining reliable records and follow-up schedules.

• Organizational skills for balancing prospecting, active opportunities, customer questions, and promised next steps.

• Willingness to learn the product range and seek specialist guidance rather than guess about unfamiliar features.

• Sound judgment about customer information, ethical selling, and escalation of unusual requests or commercial exceptions.

• Relevant training or equivalent practical experience; technical education, travel arrangements, or licenses should match the actual sales duties.

Who Does a Sales Representative Report To?

Representatives need clear coaching and commercial escalation support. Common reporting options include:

• Sales Manager

• Regional Sales Manager

• Business Development Manager

• Sales Director

The reporting line depends on territory and team size. Name one manager and clarify who approves discounts, reviews forecasts, and provides product support. If the representative retains customers after the initial sale, explain how that responsibility connects with account management or service teams.

How to Assess Sales Representative Skills Effectively

Provide candidates with a short fictional product brief and a clear customer situation. Evaluate listening, accuracy, and follow-through rather than expecting prior knowledge of your business or rewarding confidence alone.

• Discovery conversation: Role-play a customer with competing needs. Look for relevant questions before the candidate recommends an option.

• Product explanation: Ask the candidate to compare two offers, including a limitation that makes the more expensive choice unsuitable for some customers.

• Objection handling: Present a concern about price or implementation effort. Evaluate curiosity, evidence, and respect for approved terms.

• Quotation review: Give a draft offer with inconsistent quantities or dates. Ask the candidate to identify what needs checking before it reaches the customer.

• Follow-up message: Request a concise email summarizing a conversation, agreed next steps, and one outstanding question without adding invented commitments.

• Opportunity update: Ask for a short sales-system note and forecast explanation. Check that uncertainty is visible and the next action is specific.

How to Detect AI Cheating When Hiring a Sales Representative

Sales Representative interviews should show whether candidates can listen, adapt, and explain an offer honestly. AI answering tools or real-time help can supply persuasive phrases while masking weak discovery skills. Introduce a new customer constraint and ask the candidate to revise the recommendation in their own words.

Sherlock AI helps recruiters detect AI-assisted cheating during Sales Representative interviews. It can highlight potential signals involving AI answering tools, deepfakes, impersonation, and suspicious screen activity. These indicators need contextual review, including the interview rules and approved accommodations, rather than an automatic misconduct conclusion.

Use exercises such as reviewing a quotation, comparing customer options, or explaining an opportunity update. The exercise evaluates selling judgment, while Sherlock helps identify potential cheating signals. Follow-ups should explore why the candidate chose an action and what they would verify before making a promise.

Screen Sales Representative Interviews for AI-Assisted Cheating

Independent sales judgment appears when a candidate recognizes an unsuitable offer, asks a necessary question, or declines an unauthorized concession. Consider those behaviors alongside communication quality. Explore Sherlock AI to support interview integrity during sales hiring.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a Sales Representative do?

A Sales Representative develops customer conversations, explains products or services, prepares offers, and follows opportunities toward a purchase. The role also maintains records and coordinates handoffs. Some positions focus on new customers, while others combine new business with ongoing account relationships.

Is the role always field based?

No. Representatives may work by phone or video, visit customers, or combine several channels. State the location, travel expectations, and customer coverage accurately.

How does this differ from an Account Executive?

The titles can overlap. Some businesses use Account Executive for a defined sales-cycle owner and Sales Representative more broadly, but that distinction is not universal. Describe prospecting, closing, and ongoing account responsibilities directly so candidates understand the job regardless of title.

What product knowledge should candidates already have?

That depends on the complexity and training available. A technical or regulated offer may need relevant expertise, while other products can be learned during onboarding. Test the candidate's ability to learn and explain accurate information rather than demanding familiarity with every product detail.

Which sales measures should appear in the description?

Use measures appropriate to the sales cycle, such as qualified opportunities, completed sales, margin, or customer retention. Explain any activity expectations and how quality is considered. Targets should not encourage misleading claims, unsuitable purchases, or records inflated to make activity look stronger.

How should representatives work with delivery teams?

They should confirm the customer requirement, document accepted terms, and involve delivery specialists before unusual commitments. A clear handoff includes what was promised and what remains unresolved. The representative should not treat a signed order as the end of responsibility for accurate communication.

What makes a strong interview performance?

Look for purposeful questions, a recommendation connected to the customer's needs, and a clear next step. Strong candidates acknowledge missing information and explain limitations honestly. A polished pitch is less useful if it ignores the scenario or relies on promises the business has not authorized.