Location: Sale, Cheshire

What does the life of a Sales Advisor really entail? In short the sales advisors are the most key individuals within the company. Sales advisors are the backbone within the company. We turn our contacts into positive outcomes, helping to achieve profitability for the business. The main focus is interaction with the general public and the art of conversation via telephones. Providing excellent customer service is both paramount to the company and myself.

My day usually opens with making contact with clients who have contacted our out of hour's service. This way we ensure that we respond to any queries within 24 hours whether by day or night. Dependant on how many clients use this service will determine how long this particular task takes to action.

My team then has a Buzz Session with my team members. In doing this we have approximately 10 - 15 minutes quality time as a team. In these sessions we will review the previous days events and catch up on any new business developments that I need to be aware of. By doing these in the morning, it keeps us all informed in the quickest way possible.

As I manage my own time based on my tasks for the day. I will ensure that I capture my targets for the day and any other extra projects that I have been tasked such as generating reports for my team leader or mentoring new sales advisors.

The majority of my time is spent speaking to customers who require our financial services to help them obtain extra revenue and or cheaper repayments. On a day-to-day basis I am expected to initiate contact with a specified number of customers from whom I would help guide and take customers through an application to enable them to receive financial services from us. We also take calls from customers who have general enquiries. This is the part of the day I enjoy most because each customer has a different personality and you learn to adapt your conversational skills to suit each individual by building rapport. This is where my customer service, product knowledge and sales training really come into play.

As a team we have our objectives and targets, which are displayed, and each advisor has a role to play in achieving the targets set against them. To help each team generate these opportunities we have an excellent incentive that everyone wants to win.

In the afternoon on a Wednesdays, I usually have my 1-2-1 session booked out in my diary with my team leader. We cover all aspects of my productivity from the previous week, my development areas and also celebrate my successes for the week. I cherish having this opportunity to sit down with my line manager on my own, as this time spent is focused solely on me.

Dial 4 a Loan ethics are the same as mine which is a "Working Together" culture. We have a variety of colleagues from various previous industries who have like-minded ethics. I think this is what makes us work as well as we do.

Career Path

I have been nominated to complete Point of Contact training, which involves learning team leader tasks and about the their day-to-day activities within the management group. This will enable me to have confidence in applying for management roles when they become available. To help aide this transition, I also have a Personal Development Plan that provides me with guidance and what necessary steps I need to work upon to provide me with the tools to do the role in the future. My Personal Development Plan is devised within my coaching 1-2-1 sessions with the aide of my team leader. From a team leader position, there is the opportunity to progress upwards to become a Customer Services Manager or Service Delivery Manager.

Reward and Recognition

We have many incentives that are in place to help encourage both my colleagues and myself such as our Rewards and Recognition Nights. At these events we celebrate our success within the company. This gives up a unique opportunity to celebrate with our high achievers. This also gives me the chance to interact and socialise with my fellow colleagues and all levels of management.

We have many other incentives that help to keep us motivated during our day-to-day activities. These can be awarded for such areas as, highest applications completed, best call handling time or best attendance record.

Thanks go to Dial 4 a Loan for giving us A Day in the Life of a… Sales Advisor. If you would like to find out more about the opportunities within Dial 4 a Loan please click here.