- A sales associate is an individual who assists customers with making a purchase. They help customers locate what they need and then encourage the sale. This position is most commonly associated with retail businesses that sell products like clothing and jewelry. Retail sales associates earn a median hourly wage of $9.86 per hour including commissions, according to a 2008 survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employers sometimes offer these commission payments as an incentive to motivate sales associates.
- Many companies train new sales associates on the job. In addition to basic sales tips, new hires must learn store policies, how to treat customers and closing the sale. The minimum formal education required for a sales associate is a high school diploma. If an associate wants to become a sales manager at some point in the future, especially if it is a big retail store, a college degree is sometimes a prerequisite.
- One of the top qualifiers for a person applying to work as a sales associate is past experience in the sales or customer service field. If a candidate can show that he has successfully worked as a sales person at another company, that places him in a better position to secure a sales associate job.
- Another qualification that employers look for when hiring sales associates is the ability to communicate successfully. The associate must communicate with customers, his managers and his co-workers. This skill is commonly evaluated during the interview process. A sales associate must have knowledge of the products and services he is responsible for selling and must have the ability to communicate these features and attributes to the customer in an effective manner.
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