National Occupational Certificate: Sales Representative

SAQA ID 121792 | NQF Level: 04 | Credits: 155 | 15 Contact Days + workplace modules | Entry: NQF Level 3 or three years’ sales experience in wholesale and retail

Overview

In wholesale and retail, sales volumes depend on a close working link between the manufacturers and suppliers of goods and the retail businesses that sell them to consumers. The Sales Representative is that link: the person who builds and maintains customer relationships, implements brand promotions, and handles product sales and service to prospective and existing customers in a competitive environment. Unlike in-store sales advisor qualifications, this one is built for people who represent a brand to wholesale and retail outlets or individual businesses.

This is a full occupational qualification, registered by SAQA on the Occupational Qualifications Sub-framework (curriculum 332203-000-00-00), with the W&RSETA as Development Quality Partner and Assessment Quality Partner. BOTI delivers the knowledge and practical skill modules in 15 contact days of facilitated training, using case scenarios and role-plays of customer visits. The work experience modules are completed in the learner’s workplace under a mentor, where the learner prospects for customers, runs promotions and closes sales, building the evidence that goes to the external assessment.

Key Benefits for Your Organisation

• Representatives who find new customers, resolve queries, escalate what falls outside their authority, and spot opportunities to expand business with existing accounts
• Promotions and merchandising that are planned, applied and measured against sales volumes, and sales calls that are prepared, presented and closed
• Stronger brand positioning at your customers’ premises, based on target-market profiling, competitor comparison, product life cycle, stock availability and product mix
• A full NQF Level 4 qualification certified by the QCTO, in which the work experience modules (85 of the 155 credits) are built on your own products, customers and sales targets

What the Programme Covers

The qualification has three compulsory components: knowledge modules (25 credits), practical skill modules (45 credits) and work experience modules (85 credits). BOTI’s 15 contact days of facilitated training cover the knowledge and practical skill modules. The contact days are not the full length of the programme: the work experience modules are completed in the workplace and include activities that run over set periods of one to two months each, such as running promotions with three customers over two months.

Facilitated training: knowledge modules

KM-01: Customer Relationship Management (NQF 4, 10 credits)

• How an organisation’s mission, vision and values define the brand and its customer service standards
• Professional communication with customers: listening, open questioning, verbal, non-verbal and written communication
• Building relationships through interpersonal, analytical, problem-solving, decision-making and negotiation skills
• Resolving customers’ queries and complaints, and appropriate escalation and referral procedures
• Ethics, professionalism and codes of conduct, and protecting customer information under the POPI Act

KM-02: Marketing, Promotions and Sales (NQF 4, 10 credits)

• The sales process: prospecting and identifying leads, preparing for the sale, approaching customers and questioning techniques
• Sales demonstrations, managing questions and overcoming objections, closing techniques and after-sale service
• The 5 Ps of marketing, the marketing tools a Sales Representative uses, and the promotional mix
• Types of promotions, such as seasonal promotions, clearance sales, introductory offers and new store openings, and the impact of merchandising on sales
• Planning an effective schedule, handling and following up orders, managing monthly, weekly and daily sales targets, and reporting

KM-03: Competitors and Positioning Strategies (NQF 4, 5 credits)

• Understanding competitors, market share and competitor strategies
• How to remain competitive and the impact of competition on sales
• Product life cycle phases, product mix and the target market
• Monitoring stock levels in retail or customers’ premises
• Product positioning strategies and their impact on sales

Facilitated training: practical skill modules

PM-01: Manage Customer Relationships within the Scope of a Sales Representative in the Wholesale and Retail Industry (NQF 4, 15 credits)

• Identifying potential customers and establishing contact in writing
• Investigating customers’ needs and queries, such as incomplete orders, new store openings and products that need to be uplifted, and proposing solutions
• Identifying opportunities to expand business offerings with existing customers
• Escalating customer queries through the appropriate channels
• Identifying poor customer service and its impact on the brand, and recommending improvements

PM-02: Market, Promote and Sell Products (NQF 4, 20 credits)

• Preparing for a marketing campaign and developing an action plan to implement promotions
• Applying the promotional mix to increase sales volumes and measuring the impact of merchandising
• Preparing for sales calls: choosing products in relation to their life cycle, making appointments, anticipating objections and working out a cost-effective route
• Role-playing the customer visit: a one-on-one sales pitch, responding to buying signals, closing the sale and completing the paperwork
• Planning an effective schedule and turning monthly sales targets into weekly and daily targets

PM-03: Implement Product Positioning Strategies within the Competitive Environment (NQF 4, 10 credits)

• Profiling the target market on variables such as marital status, dependants, lifestyle and occupation
• Matching products to customer types, needs and geographic area
• Identifying competitors offering similar products and comparing their services
• Determining product life cycle phases and analysing stock availability
• Recommending a product mix to increase sales, and techniques that keep the brand present and in good standing

In the workplace: work experience modules

WM-01: Management of Customer Relationships within the Scope of a Sales Representative in the Wholesale and Retail Industry (NQF 4, 30 credits)

• Prospecting for new customers at least twice a week over a month, using the organisation’s resources
• Establishing contact, capturing new customers’ information and protecting it in line with the POPI Act
• Gathering and analysing customer satisfaction information and resolving instances of dissatisfaction
• Escalating complaints beyond the learner’s delegated authority to senior management
• Monitoring competitors to strengthen service and competitive advantage

WM-02: Marketing, Promoting and Selling Products (NQF 4, 30 credits)

• Running marketing or promotion activities with three customers over two months
• Taking part in merchandising discussions and monitoring stock levels at the customer’s store
• Measuring the impact of promotions and merchandising on sales volumes
• Visiting customers to make one-on-one sales pitches or group presentations, as the customer requires, and reading buying signals
• Closing at least three sales over one month, including handling and following up orders

WM-03: Implementation of Product Positioning Strategies within the Competitive Environment (NQF 4, 25 credits)

• Profiling the target market for two of the organisation’s products
• Identifying at least two competitors and evaluating their footprint: merchandising positioning, quantities and pricing
• Identifying the product life cycle phase and checking stock availability for two products on promotion
• Identifying how the organisation has applied the product mix to increase sales volumes of those two products
• Recommending how to improve the positioning of two products at two different customers

Assessment

Internal assessment. BOTI assesses each knowledge and practical skill module against the internal assessment criteria set in the curriculum; the practical skill modules are assessed through case scenarios and role-plays.

Workplace evidence. In the workplace, the learner builds evidence for each work experience module, such as reports, customer lists, promotion records and sales documentation signed off by a mentor or supervisor. The completed activities are recorded in a logbook and signed off in a Statement of Work Experience. This evidence is submitted with the logbook and assessed externally as part of the EISA.

External Integrated Summative Assessment (EISA). The qualification is issued only after an External Integrated Summative Assessment, conducted through the W&RSETA as the QCTO’s Assessment Quality Partner. It combines a three-hour written assessment (paper or online) at an approved assessment site with the assessment of the evidence produced during workplace experience, which is submitted with the logbook and assessed at an approved assessment site by an AQP-registered assessor. It covers the three exit level outcomes: managing customer relationships (40%), marketing, promoting and selling products (40%), and applying product positioning strategies (20%).

To qualify for the EISA, learners need proof of successful completion of all three knowledge modules and all three practical skill modules, and a completed and signed Statement of Work Experience. Foundational Learning competence is also a prerequisite for the award of the qualification. It is a separate requirement from this qualification’s modules and is not covered in the 15 contact days, so discuss your learners’ position with BOTI when you enrol. Learners who are found competent receive their certificate from the QCTO.

Entry Requirements

An NQF Level 3 qualification, or at least three years’ work experience in sales within the wholesale and retail industry. Recognition of prior learning (RPL) for access is available under the QCTO RPL Policy, and learners who already have the competencies of a module can be credited for it through RPL. There are no additional legal or physical entry requirements, and no professional body registration is required for this occupation.

The work experience modules must be completed in a workplace that meets the curriculum’s criteria for workplace approval, including a mentor-to-learner ratio of no more than 1:3. Mentors must hold the relevant qualification one level higher and have at least three years’ relevant industry experience.

Who Should Attend

Sales representatives who sell on behalf of a brand to wholesale and retail outlets or individual businesses, including product demonstrators, beauty sales consultants and representatives in categories such as detergents, cosmetics and skincare, and jewellery and watches. It also suits employed sales staff who want to advance their careers as Sales Representatives, and new entrants who meet the entry requirements and have a place in a workplace that meets the curriculum’s approval criteria for the work experience modules. Manufacturers and suppliers can use it to build a qualified sales team. It sits beside BOTI’s National Occupational Certificate: Retail Supervisor (SAQA ID 121316) in our wholesale and retail range.

Enquire

Contact BOTI on 011 882 8853 or [email protected] to discuss intake dates and group pricing.