Hi, I’m Rohan, one of the Sales Placements here at ProspectSoft. Today, I want to answer some common questions people ask about my placement experience.

Why did you pick ProspectSoft for your placement year? 

The first question that’s frequently asked is why I chose to apply to ProspectSoft for my placement year. Selecting a company for my placement year proved to be a difficult task. With so many possibilities and options available, I knew I had to select a company that would support my professional objectives and provide a dynamic environment in which I could develop and learn. 

An important consideration in my decision-making process was the chance to acquire new knowledge and abilities. With its amazing placement program, ProspectSoft aims to give students practical exposure in a real-world environment. Their dedication to placement training and encouraging personal growth really impressed me. The training we went through for the Sales role was very practical and as I learnt more and more each day, I slowly started to adapt to become the most efficient version of myself.
The role also simply allowed great progression, whether in the future I’m continuing to work at Prospect or another company, the skills I have learnt here will stay with me. ProspectSoft being acquired by the Access Group also adds another reason to why it’s such a great place to work. Not only do you get the benefits of working for a small to medium business. But you can also go into the Access office in Loughborough which is much larger, to experience the large enterprise environment as well. 

What new skills have you learnt and how do you implement them? 

The next FAQ is ‘What new skills have you learnt and how do you implement them?’ The first skill is effective communication which is at the core of successful Sales. At ProspectSoft, I honed my ability to communicate clearly and persuasively by adapting my approach to be most efficient for different prospects. This involved actively listening to customers and providing tailored solutions to meet their unique needs. By learning and improving on this skill, I was able to improve my Sales performance significantly and build stronger relationships with the potential clients I would speak to.

My commercial awareness is another thing that improved drastically over my time here at ProspectSoft. Having good commercial awareness is crucial especially in a customer facing role such as Sales. This is due to the nature of conversations with prospects, knowing how to use this commercial knowledge to avoid rejection is a major part of the job and is something that has helped me improve a lot more than I first thought. 

What are the benefits of a placement year that you don’t get at University? 

The next question is, ‘What are the benefits of doing a placement year that you don’t get at University?’ The first benefit I’ll mention is real world experience. Although university provides theoretical information, my placement year gave me first-hand experience with the day-to-day, real-world operations of a successful software company. Being able to witness and deal with the situations in a real business is completely different type of learning as it is much more practical which can be carried from one business to another.

The next benefit I’ve received is working in a real corporate atmosphere gave me a confidence boost that was one of the biggest parts of my placement year. My confidence and preparation for the working world have grown as a result of taking on genuine problems, fulfilling deadlines, and hitting goals which are all things that a university degree by itself could not provide to the same level. Especially in a Sales role, confidence is something that will grow over your time as the more often you call the more it becomes almost second nature and once you begin to succeed in these calls your confidence is sure to grow. 

What advice would you give to someone looking to work in Sales? 

The final FAQ is ‘What advice would I give for someone looking to go into Sales?’ Well Sales is an exciting role, but rejection is an inevitable part of it and it's important not to take it personally. Instead, view each rejection as a learning opportunity. Analyse what went wrong, adjust, and keep moving forward. Resilience and a positive mindset are crucial in overcoming obstacles and achieving success in Sales. As well as this, having a bad month and not reaching your targets also happens sometimes and this can be due to several factors that can be out of your control such as holidays and specific times in the year may be worse for Sales than others. But its important to persevere and view every rejection/bad month a learning opportunity.

Another thing I would tell everyone going into Sales is to ask for advice. Whether its on your progression from month to month or toward the start of a role when you want to refine your methods for communicating with customers. Advice from people more experienced than yourself will always be beneficial. Not only through your team members and managers, but independent learning of Sales techniques and how to be more confident in your craft will all factor in your development and is a great way to set you apart from anyone else.