What could a career in agricultural sales offer you?
Agricultural sales isn’t an area of sales that gets a lot of buzz, but for people interested in or knowledgeable about agriculture, it can be an exciting place to start your career. If you’re interested in farming, animals, machinery, or other aspects of contemporary agriculture, you could put your sales skills to good use in agricultural sales.
What is working in agricultural sales like?
Agricultural sales is a sector of sales that involves selling machinery, fertiliser, seeds, and other products related to the agricultural industry to agricultural businesses and private farmers. You may have to travel to different locations to pitch your products to clients, and it’s expected that you’ll have technical knowledge of agriculture that will help you to understand the unique properties of the products you’re selling.
What experience do you need to work in agricultural sales?
Experience in agriculture will give you the best start in your career in agricultural sales, although it’s not a prerequisite. If you can show potential employers that you’re a fast learner with a basic understanding of the type of products that you might be selling, this will be enough in many cases. Some of the most important skills for agricultural sales reps are:
• Technical knowledge: Even if you don’t know much about farming products when you start out in this career, the only way to sell products to your customers – who will usually be experts in the field themselves – is to learn your niche inside out so that you can offer genuinely helpful advice and recommendations.
• Communication skills: A must in any sales position, agricultural sales reps have to be able to relate to farmers, ask the right questions, and understand the specific needs of each of their clients.
• Organisation skills: It’s important that sales professionals working in agricultural sales are organised and resilient. This can be a challenging role that requires patience as you build your network of industry contacts and develop successful sales tactics that work for you.
Does a career in agricultural sales pay off?
The salaries that are up for grabs in agricultural sales can vary massively depending on where you work and how good at your job you are. Standard salaries in agricultural sales might range from around £35,000 to £60,000, but there’s room to earn salaries of over £80,000 if you can rise to the role of sales director at a successful company.
As well as a generous salary and commission, agricultural sales reps can benefit from company cars and usually enjoy the privilege of being able to organise their own diaries, which means flexible hours are part of the job.
Browse jobs today
If you’re looking for agriculture sales jobs in the UK, browse our jobs board (https://www.salesroles.com/find-a-job/) today to find agricultural sales jobs for both entry-level and experienced sales professionals. At Sales Roles, we’re here to help you find the perfect next step in your career in sales: browse jobs online or call us to chat about sales roles near you today.