Sales Basel

Sales

Sales careers provide a huge variety of options at all levels, from entry level roles such as working in a call centre to very senior roles managing large teams of staff.  Typical job titles might include Sales Executive, Sales Consultant, Sales Representative, Business Development Executive, Account Executive, Client Acquisition Executive, Sales Manager, Business Development Manager, Territory Manger, Sales Director, Business Development Director and many more.   Jobs in Sales are available at all levels, from entry level roles such as working as part of a team in a call centre to very senior roles as Business Development Director responsible for managing large teams of Business Development staff.

Sales and Business Development Executives are employed by many businesses across the public and private sectors to increase the demand for, and sales of the company’s products or services.   Within the Life Sciences sector business development executives which typically be selling medical, pharmaceutical, biotech and research supplies and services.

The role of a Sales Executive will usually be fast paced, target driven, pressurised and varied.  Typical responsibilities for a Sales Executive might include identifying potential new clients and business opportunities, building relationships with clients and ensuring that their needs are understood and negotiating with them to ensure that the deal is closed by offering them solutions.  Business Development Executives will also usually need to maintain a database of clients and prospects using a CRM such as Salesforce, create and maintain business development plans which will include forecasting annual targets and identifying new opportunities for sales campaigns. 

Skills & Qualifications/Experience required for a career in Sales

Most Sales roles in the Life Sciences sector will require a degree in a Life Science or related subject.  However, academic qualifications are often less important than personality, attitude and abilities.  Typical attributes required include:-

• The ability and desire to sell
• Resilience, tenacity and the ability to cope with rejection
• Persuasive and
• Goal-oriented with a high degree of self-motivation and ambition
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; the ability to call, interact, influence and persuade potential customers
• Able to multitask, prioritise and manage time efficiently
• Ability to work independently or as an active member of a team
• Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Excel) and CRM/Salesforce experience preferred

Career progression

Sales roles are target driven in most cases and promotion is usually based on results, meaning that rapid progress and early promotion is common for high performers.  A typical career path could be from Sales Executive to Sales Team Leader through Sales Manager and on to Sales Director.    Salaries, commission and other performance related bonuses mean that Sales/Business Development careers can be very lucrative.

Basel is a city on the Rhine River in northwest Switzerland close to the borders with France and Germany. The official language of Basel is German although, with 35% of the inhabitants being foreign nationals, English is also widely spoken.  The University of Basel, founded in 1460, is Switzerland's oldest university and it houses some of Erasmus’s works. Erasmus’s tomb is to be found in the city’s 12th century Romanesque-Gothic cathedral.  There are almost 40 museums in Basel as well as many beautiful medieval buildings around the Marktplatz.

Basel is home to large pharmaceutical and chemical industries with companies such as Novartis, Syngenta, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Hoffmann-La Roche, and Actelion being headquartered in the city.   Like other Swiss cities, Basel is also a centre for banking and both the Bank for International Settlements and UBS are located in the city.  The Basel Area is one of the most sought-after life sciences locations in the world, and is clearly Europe’s top life sciences hub. Roche and Novartis, two out of three global pharma market leaders have their global headquarters here.

Basel can also rightly claim the longest history in life sciences. From the beginnings with its industrial silk ribbon dye mills in the mid-century 1800s up to the biotech revolution, the region’s life sciences ecosystem has repeatedly evolved and reinvented itself in the course of the industry’s larger developments. This success story is still going strong and will continue.

The Basel Area is home to over 700 life sciences companies that are making a substantial contribution to a dynamic business environment. The life sciences industry is the growth engine of the Basel Area – homegrown and here to stay. The Basel Area is also a hotspot for promising startups, such as docdok.health AG, Versameb AG, Polyneuron Pharmaceuticals AG, T3 Pharmaceuticals AG and Cellestia Biotech AG.

The Basel Area is also a world champion in gross value. The $66 billion USD exports of pharma products per year are impressive.

Famous people from Basel include:  Roger Federer, champion tennis player and Ursula Andress, actress.

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Switzerland is a great place to further your career in life sciences. If you are a looking for pharmaceutical jobs in Basel, scientific careers in Basel or want to discuss cell therapy, gene therapy, ATMP, medical device, technology, biotech or pharmaceutical job opportunities in Basel, give our Next Phase team a call. The Swiss area is continuing to expand as a centre for jobs in science, process development, technology, software development, project management, informatics, quality, reg affairs and supply chain.

At Next Phase we help people find new jobs in life sciences across the UK, Europe and USA. This page lists some of the job opportunities in Switzerland, and if you give us a call we can also talk to you about other scientific jobs, pharmaceutical career opportunities and the latest updates in cell and gene therapy and ATMP development in the Basel area.

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