Job Titles for Sales People – Does The Name Make A Difference?

I’ve worked in offices all over the world, primarily in a sales function, and the subject and importance of the job title of an individual working in sales, seems to have a much more relevance than for any other employee. I have had discussions with colleagues about what they are labelling themselves as on their email signature. I have had discussions about the ‘best title’ to introduce yourself as when cold calling. What’s going to keep them on the phone and who are they going to place most of their trust in?

If you’re the Head of Design at your company then you’re called the Head of Design. If you’re responsible for Human Resources then you’re the Human Resources Manager. If you’re ultimate goal as an employee of your company is the acquisition of new business then your job title could very well be a whole host of things: Sales Executive, New Business Manager, Product Consultant, Relationship Specialist et al.

I guess the question is, why? Maybe the answer is as simple as the fact that the sales people are only few of the people in the company who would find a significant positive in changing their job title. You could even argue that the right job title for a salesperson, will be a factor for that person hitting targets and bringing in new accounts. Why? Because different decision makers at different companies, tend to have differing opinions with regards to sales people in general. Some understand the value of a sales person and realise that on a daily basis, someone, somewhere will attempt to sell their company something. Some hold a less than appreciative opinion towards salespeople and consider their practice to be part of a business approach, not focused on quality but more so towards selling, without sufficient delivery. An email or announcing your job title as ‘Sales Executive for company ‘X’’ could easily be met with an immediate rejection and negative demeanour.

Different industry sectors all tend to have a different breed of sales person, with some being part of a cut-throat sector which requires the utmost in perseverance and resilience and a never say die attitude. Others have a simple consultative selling technique, where matching needs and with attributes in a calm and informative fashion is the key. Different types of personalities, I have noticed over the years, tend to work well in certain roles over others, though there is no doctrinal recipe for who makes a successful salesperson.

So if job titles really do matter, then the job title of your companies sales persons is of great importance to how effective their initial introductions will be. Think about a time in your professional career when you have potentially acted differently when hearing that someone was from a sales background. I would be very surprised if a distinct proportion of people hadn’t reacted to the individuals title at times, and not what they had to say.

On the other side of the argument, maybe a job title really doesn’t matter, and the qualities that are conveyed are simply down to the knowledge and ability of the person in question. But in the modern era of information sharing and thorough analysis, I would really suspect that it does have quite an impact when deciding whether to listen to someone or not!

I spoke to the managing director of an asset management firm the other day, he mentioned that when consulting with certain individuals, he will label himself a financial planner, so the primary attributes of his experience and profession are clear to someone who may not be as adept to his industry. He mentioned that, having been in the industry for a number of years, he will casually flick between the two, knowing exactly when he should use one title or the other.

So it is evident that this is a practice that potentially we all take part in from time to time. But I’ll leave you with this, next time you get a call or an email from someone, check out their job title, see if you find some more intriguing than others. Does it make a difference at all? Maybe you consider it to be of great importance, not only to your salespeople, but to your business ethos too.