listening to customer requirements and presenting appropriately to make a sale; maintaining and developing relationships with existing customers in person and via telephone calls and emails; cold calling to arrange meetings with potential customers to prospect for new business; responding to incoming email and phone enquiries; acting as a contact between a company and its existing and potential markets; negotiating the terms of an agreement and closing sales; gathering market and customer information; representing their company at trade exhibitions, events and demonstrations; negotiating on price, costs, delivery and specifications with buyers and managers; challenging any objections with a view to getting the customer to buy; advising on forthcoming product developments and discussing special promotions; creating detailed proposal documents, often as part of a formal bidding process which is largely dictated by the prospective customer; liaising with suppliers to check the progress of existing orders; checking the quantities of goods on display and in stock; recording sales and order information and sending copies to the sales office, or entering figures into a computer system; reviewing your own sales performance, aiming to meet or exceed targets; gaining a clear understanding of customers' businesses and requirements; making accurate, rapid cost calculations and providing customers with quotations; feeding future buying trends back to employers; attending team meeting and sharing best practice with colleagues.