Sales
Sales Representative job description template
Sales candidates read the advert for three things: what they sell, to whom, and what the package really pays. Answer those and the rest is detail.
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Sales Representative job description
About the role
We are looking for a Sales Representative to sell [what] to [who]. You will work [inbound leads, outbound, or both], own your pipeline from first contact to close, and carry a target of [figure or deal count]. You will work alongside [team] and report to [role].
What you will do
- Own a pipeline from first contact through to close, against a stated target
- Prospect [how: outbound, inbound follow-up, partner referrals, events]
- Run discovery properly, so what you propose matches what the customer actually needs
- Prepare and present proposals, and negotiate within the limits the role carries
- Keep the CRM current, because forecasting depends on it being true
- Work with [marketing, delivery, support] so what you sell is what gets delivered
What we need
- Experience selling in a comparable motion, whether that is transactional or considered
- Comfortable with a target and with a manager who talks about it weekly
- Clear discovery questioning, not just presentation
- Disciplined with CRM hygiene and follow-up
Nice to have
- Experience selling to [your buyer]
- Familiarity with [your CRM]
- Industry network in [sector]
Before you publish the pay
State base and on-target earnings separately, and say whether commission is capped. An OTE with no base attached reads as evasive and good candidates discount it. If the first year has a ramp or a guarantee, say so: it is the thing people ask in the first call anyway.
To appear in Google job results
Fill in title, location or remote, employment type, date posted and a valid-through date. Put the base range in the salary field rather than the OTE, since a structured salary field showing an uncapped OTE is misleading, and explain the commission in the description where it belongs.
Adapt it rather than pasting it. The parts worth rewriting are the opening paragraph and the must-haves, because those are what decide whether the right person applies. Our guide to writing a job description covers why.
When it is ready, publishing it on your own site keeps the listing, the applications and the candidate data with you, and generates the structured data that makes the role eligible for Google job results.
Common questions
Should I publish the commission structure?
Publish enough of it to be believed: base, realistic OTE, and whether it is capped. The full plan can wait for the interview. Adverts that say competitive commission get answered by people who assume the worst, which is usually the wrong people.
Representative, Executive, or Account Executive?
Match your market. Account Executive reads as software and mid-market in the US; Sales Representative and Sales Executive are broader and are what many candidates search. The title also sets a pay expectation before anyone reads the range, so pick one that matches yours.
How do I write it for a first sales hire?
Say what exists: which customers you already have, where leads come from today, and what the person is expected to build versus inherit. A first sales hire who discovers there is no pipeline and no material leaves quickly, and that is an expensive lesson for both of you.
Publish it on your own site.
WP Career Board turns the fields you fill in into the markup Google reads, and applications land in a dashboard instead of an inbox. Free.