Career Pathways Assignment Sample

• University : Macquarie University My Assignment Services is not sponsored or endorsed by this college or university.
• Subject Name : Management

1. Career Plans

Hoffman’s ABZ career planning is an adaptive approach to planning that involves three career positions. Plan A includes my current competencies and what I am doing right now. When I feel the need to change my skills, environment, or the direction, then this pivoting will fall under Plan B. Lastly, Plan Z is my backup, which means if the previous two plans do not work out, I will have something at hand, with the help of which I can bounce back. I am looking forward to a career in sales and marketing. This industry will offer me an almost endless amount of opportunities for becoming a better person. Once I spend a decent number of years in the sales and marketing industry, I will have multiple career paths open which provide value addition to my career. Hence, I will also gain a number of skills and vast knowledge of the various domains. Hence, in the next couple of months, I am going to apply for a Senior Sales Manager position as this primarily involves strategising and overseeing the sales strategy of a company.

The other key roles in this job include planning, carrying out, and ensuring that the sales strategy is seamlessly executed. This will certainly involve the marketing and selling of product and services to the company’s clients. I will also apply for similar jobs in sales like senior insurance sales agent, customer development, senior retail sales manager, and regional sales manager. Over the two years of Masters study, I had gone through numerous case studies of various organisations. I learnt that sales and marketing are the backbones of any company as they need to keep it at an optimum level or maximise in order to survive. Choosing one from several job offers will require me to consider a few things. I will accept the job offer that is going to give me long-term happiness. The job offer should also help me advance my career goals. If the company consists of people who will inspire and engage me, then I shall accept that offer.

If Plan A doesn’t work, I will look for a job in the field of marketing and target various sectors such as FMCG, industrial supplies, digital marketing, pharmaceuticals, and IT software. I am a creative person and think out of the box, thus, I can use these two abilities in the marketing industry. This can allow me to interact and work with people who have used such abilities for years and driven excellent results in the businesses. Interacting with people will also offer me insight into various types of personalities. Marketers use this for understanding their target audience and engagement.

The sales job definitely has endless opportunities as there are several industries of my liking where I can pursue the job. Other benefits include excellent job security, vast growth potential, recognition, and more. While there are benefits associated with the sales job in Plan A, I might also face a number of obstacles or challenges too. Job prospecting is known to be one of the hardest parts of a sales job. This is directly related to outbound calls or cold calling and also includes other mediums for emails and texts. Both the potential and existing customers may ignore them. To overcome this, I will have to think about working on my sales pitch and content delivered via texts and emails. This means my content needs more engagement so that I can garner maximum attention of my clients. Getting rejected by a customer is another obstacle which is quite common in any sales job.

It is natural for a sales executive to get discouraged after hearing rejections one after another whether on phone calls, emails, or texts. The only to fix these issues is to dig deep and find out what went wrong and use the learning to improve future sales calls. I might lose a wonderful opportunity if my client does not offer me a commitment. In spite of all my efforts, the deal could possibly stay where it initially was and in the worst-case scenario, the client might even forget about it. To overcome this challenge, I must work by using a proactive approach and develop a much better sales process so that I will know what should be done next. Almost every sales executive handles administrative tasks such as data entry. This is a part of the sales process but often becomes the reason for a salesperson’s lack of efficiency as a lot of time goes sitting in front of the computer. To overcome this obstacle, I will use sales tools available on the internet. They will make my job easier and won’t drown the work efficiency.

In my backup Plan Z, I will work as a content writer. These individuals are always high in demand and the kind of job has gained immense popularity. Content writing has endless opportunities and I can easily find a job in SEO, e-commerce, journalism, digital marketing, and more. I have good communication skills and vocabulary. Hence, I will use them to curate content based on the company’s target audience. Moreover, content development is not just limited to text, it also includes graphics and videos. Along the way, I can enrol in online courses where I can learn graphic designing and video development.

I’ve found a lot of courses on Udemy designed exactly for these two. Freelance content writing is also an excellent option to earn extra income from home along with a regular job. While the initial payout might be less, but after an experience of 2-3 years, I will be able to earn a handsome amount. This also offers much better independence over a regular job and flexibility to work at convenient times. So, as soon as I will find a client, I can start working. I’ve seen many freelancers unable to manage their work and projects of multiple clients. Thus, I will only stick to just one client for the first year before moving to work with multiple clients thereafter.

2. LinkedIn Profile Content

Headline: I am a passionate and motivated enthusiast eager to join a sales team and contribute to their success.

Recent job role:

Sales Manager

Roles and experience:

1. Searching for prospective customers and leads for the business

2. Propose and sell when the time is right

3. Gain a better understanding of the products and services sold by the company

4. Meet and talk to the potential clients and help them in making their best decision based on their needs

5. Keep up with the follow-up process after a sale takes place

6. Gain insight into prospective customers and leads

7. Conduct market research

8. Stay active with cold calling, emails, and text messages

9. Understand their wants, needs, problems, and concerns with the exiting products and services of the company

10. Prepare a sales pitch for oneself and keep altering it for potential customers

11. Administrative tasks like data entry

12. After finding out the pain points, showcase customers the best solutions to their problems

13. Re-work on unconverted leads and try to negotiate and close the deals

14. Coordinate with team members and people from other departments to drive better results

15. Take note of the customers’ concerns and share the feedback with the teams and team members

16. Monitor sales performance - daily/weekly/monthly

17. Prepare reports and sheets and share them with the manager and team leader

18. Attend team meetings and provide inputs

19. Build healthy relationships with the customers

20. Maintain details of every inbound and outbound call made

21. Check and verify the quality of the final product or service

Highlights:

1. Developed a full-scale sales operation and established sound database systems, sales and marketing strategies, and recruited regional managers for the sales department

2. Supervised a team of 7 project leaders and technical staff and achieved the strategic goals for the business’ marketing campaigns

3. Marketed the company’s new products in the latest retail channels by strategising with the senior sales managers

4. Redesigned the potential of the company’s existing products through multiple digital platforms

5. Identified the needs of the clients and successfully achieved them by presenting appropriate solutions for them

6. Achieved a 92.7% customer satisfaction rate by ensuring that the entire sales team follows the policies and procedures

7. Improved the customer satisfaction rate by 8.2 per cent as compared to last year

8. Motivated the sales team throughout the peak season to meet the targets as well as key performance indicators

9. Increased territory sales to $4.2 million. Last year this figure was roughly $2.6 million.

10. Awarded the ‘Number 1 sales manager’ in 2019 and the best achiever in 2018.

Summary for About Section:

Sales professional with exceptional leadership skills and demonstrated ability to execute disposition. I am assertive, result-oriented, and resourceful with more than 6 years of experience in the sales sector. Equipped with ability to identify and understand queries of customers and sales staff. Bring out the most effective solutions to resolve their queries. Coordinated with the senior management to plan out actionable items and implement them on a timely basis so as to achieve the targets of the sales teams.

I think strategically and formulate decisions based on the sales forecasting. Keep a check on how the sales team is selling the company’s products and services. This includes existing and new products and existing, new, and potential customers. I work diligently towards maximising the business revenue and retention of external relationships. Assess the risks associated with customers, sales staff, and products and services. I effectively develop and communicate the targets required to achieve during peak time and off season. Defined the various sales tools and resources that will be needed to accomplish the set targets. I can integrate data into various customer relationship management software and analyse and extract valuable reports out of them. I believe that communication is the backbone of all sales teams and hence I keep

in touch with the key retailers and agencies and provide them with the latest information about the products and services sold by the business. I also work alongside the customer service team and discuss with them the different ways to safeguard information and improve accuracy of the data and sales accounts. This becomes useful for the next step in which I prepare reports and send it to the senior management such that valuable decisions can be made.

10 Skills I Want to Highlight

1. Communication skills - scored IELTS 7.5

2. Client Relationships

3. Prospecting

4. Sales Planning

5. Sales Strategies

6. Product Knowledge

7. Customer Mapping

8. Presentation

9. Time-management

10. Rapport Building

3. Resume Content

Sales professional with over 6 years of experience in supervising and training the sales staff. I have planned several sales and marketing strategies by regularly keeping in touch with senior management. Executed them in the most efficient way possible such that the organisation’s objectives are met on time. Planned and successfully implemented a variety of sales practices, policies, and procedures. Directed the company’s sales initiatives and evaluated short and long-term objectives. Proficient at understanding the customer’s needs and wants and finding out the most effective ways of fulfilling them. Displayed leadership in keeping the internal sales team as well as external distributors groomed and well-informed about the product. Responsible for regularly coaching the sales representatives on a number of areas such as presenting, selling, and understanding and resolving customer grievances.I have also served as an advocate for both the customers as well as the sales executives and resolved their queries and issues related to the product and services such as delivery, change in the order, and more. Isolated the best solutions by coordinating with various departments whose activities and processes are aligned to that of sales.

I am also well-versed with advanced computer applications like AutoCAD and used it to improve profitability in the business. Have actively taken part in new project planning and business development with the common objective of growth management in the short run. Was given a budget of $38000 and managed it across three sales lines of the business for all four sales and operations centres of the company. Driven brand awareness through customised sales calls and emails. Engaged proactively with the customer base on various social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Deployed channel partners for all products and services to increase sales and maximise business profit. Now, I am seeking a senior sales manager position where I can utilise my proven track record and skills to lead a team to the next level.

Worked and coordinated closely with key decision makers and strengthened relationships with the managers of other departments. Bolstered sales and growth management across multiple geographies. Talented in handling complex negotiations and delivering customer focused solutions. Adept at providing customers with the highest business values. Keep a communication with all the departments of the business such as retail, logistics, customer service, marketing, IT, and Human Resources. Trained to prepare myself before next season begins and forecast any issues and challenges that could arise. Discuss them with other managers and plan ways to eliminate or tackle them during the preparation time. Utilise useful tools such as professional development plans to cherish and encourage a positive work environment. Plan and execute initiatives that support a diverse workforce and motivates sales staff to perform to their best such that the targets set according to the sales plans are met on time.

List of core proficiencies:

1. Customer relationship management

2. Product and service management

3. Training and development

4. Strategic alliance and partnerships

5. Team management and leadership

6. Innovation and growth strategy

7. B2B and B2C sales

8. Process and performance management and improvement

9. New market identification

10. Client relationship management

11. Sales and finance forecasting

12. Conflict and issues resolution

Leadership Experience

1. Successfully managed customer relationships and sales and services in over 3 distinct retail locations

2. Lead a team of 26 sales representatives

3. Provided training to the sales team residing in other retail districts

4. Improved all the performance of all three retail districts by 1.6%, the highest ever achieved by a sales manager in 3 years

5. Once the performance was improved, yielded $23800 higher than the sales forecasted

6. For the frontline sales representatives, ensured instant technical and administrative support

7. Conducted training and feedback sessions to sales team leaders and senior sales executives and developed their product knowledge and communication skills related to product selling

8. Directed the team’s focus towards optimum client targets and improved the average customer acquisition ration

9. Aligned sales territories to maximise their growth and business profitability

10. Implemented effective strategies that increased leads and orders by 18% and 24% respectively

11. Provided external distributors with all the information and facts related to the company’s products and services

12. Demonstrated excellent motivation skills and successfully achieved the lowest sales staff turnover for two years and three months

13. On a proactive basis, handled more than 130 sales accounts and regularly followed up and communicated with the concerned account

14. Reviewed the activities of each sales account and prepared reports and shared them with senior management so that they could make vital business decisions

Technical Skills

1. Adobe After Effects

2. Adobe photoshop

3. Data analysis

4. Social media

5. Salesforce Desk

6. Wordpress

7. Nimble

8. Agile CRM

9. Java

10. Oracle

11. Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows

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