Trade - Career types
Sales representatives
Dealers and some manufacturers generally employ a sales force to visit dental practices, laboratories and hospitals regularly. The sales force is highly trained with a wide-ranging knowledge of dentistry, who can speak authoritatively about their company’s products and services. They sell new products, take orders for items required, answer customers’ questions and build up a rapport between their company and the customer.
Telesales personnel
Telesales personnel who take orders for routine usage items usually back up visits by sales representatives. This system allows the visiting salesperson more time to concentrate on the customer’s wider requirements and to introduce new products.
Service Engineers
The dental surgery can contain some sophisticated equipment and service or maintenance engineers are valuable members of the dental team. Large items, for example chairs, units, x-ray equipment, need not only to be installed correctly but also maintained.
The correct training of engineers is essential and for some items it is also a legal requirement. Engineers working with ionising radiation (x-rays) have to comply with specific requirements within the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 and the British Dental Trade Association organises courses with the National Radiological Protection Board that accredits engineers as dental x-ray specialists. Manufacturers often train engineers to specialise in their own products and often will not allow replacement parts to be distributed to anyone other than an accredited engineer or distributor.
