What Are the Different Types of Sales Trainee Jobs?

There are many sales jobs that begin with a training period. Real estate, automobile and even shoe sales trainee jobs involve a beginning salesperson being shown the ropes by a more experienced sales person. Some sales trainee jobs, such as vacuum sweeper sales, home siding and roofing sales, involve meeting a potential customer in his or her home. Whether it be door-to-door sales or a position within a large store, sales trainee jobs commonly help the new sales associate develop skills to be a better salesperson.

The main reason for sales trainee jobs is to prepare the new salesperson to become better at closing a deal and making sales. While this is initially geared towards making the employer more money, a byproduct of this leads to better employee wages due to increased commissions. A novice salesperson is typically paired with an experienced seller in order to allow the novice to observe the experienced seller's tactics and mannerisms. Upon completion of an observation period, the novice is typically allowed to approach a potential customer and proceed through the sale under the watchful eye and guidance of a trainer. Once the trainer has made a positive recommendation to a supervisor, the novice is left on his or her own to make sales.

In some professions, such as real estate, this period can last as much as several months. In other sales trainee jobs, this can last a matter of hours or days. In most cases, the trainer is imparting the necessity of the golden rule of sales: always be closing, commonly referred to as the ABCs of selling. This is due to a novice salesperson's typical lack of closing the sale by asking for the sale. Some inexperienced salespeople are embarrassed or afraid to ask a customer to make the purchase. The result is often a lost sale due to the consumer simply walking away even though the product was pleasing to the customer.

Many employers have realized the value in pairing a novice with an experienced sales professional and have opened sales trainee jobs to attract potential sales staff. This practice has even bled over into phone sales, with many new callers operating with a trainer sitting right beside of them. This chaperoned sales technique commonly leads to a more relaxed sales call, thereby resulting in increased sales for the company. During this training period, the sales trainee jobs typically operate on a percentage pay rate with the trainer taking a larger cut of the sales commission than the trainee.