SalesHQ’s 10-Step Guide to a Career in Sales

10-Step Guide to a Career in Sales

Thinking about getting into sales? Smart, very smart. Sales can be one of the highest paying professions out there. And it’s not just about the cash: Successful sales pros enjoy highly flexible hours, a high degree of self-determination, and the ability to rise quickly through the ranks. No surprise, then, that sales is a popular career choice. Of course, sales isn’t easy; it takes a real go-getter, with a nose for business, to get ahead.

Think you may have what it takes? Check out our ten-step guide for the skinny on how to do your research, pick the right sales specialty and industry, get the appropriate training and education, build your network, and ultimately get your first job … and maybe your next one as well.

Just follow the links below to plot the course of your career, one step at a time.


Step 1: Understand the Sales Universe

More Than Widgets

Media, pharmaceuticals, financial services, medical supplies, plastics, software … everything with a buyer has a seller.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that the only things being sold in the marketplace are products, and useless ones at that. As one job seeker said, “I won’t do sales. I don’t want to go around talking to people and trying to sell them stuff they don’t want.”

This statement is misguided on several levels, but two stand out:

• Who’s to say the job seeker would have to sell stuff – i.e., products?

• Why wouldn’t this job seeker’s prospective customers want what’s being sold?

Too often, college students and recent grads rule out sales positions based on little or no real thought or investigation. They hear the word “sales,” and they immediately say to themselves, “No way!” Case closed.

Professional Sales: A Land of Opportunity

If you’ve never pictured yourself – or even casually considered – making your way in sales, you may be making a mistake. Instead, think about how working in sales might benefit you and how it might be different from what you think you know about sales.

You may sell a product if you go into sales, but you might also sell a service or even a cause of some sort. If you find a product, service or cause you believe in and then take it to people who might also believe in it, you could find yourself in a gratifying career.

Sales Experience Is Applicable Everywhere

Business leaders, many of whom started out in sales, believe that if you can succeed in sales, you can succeed almost anywhere. Sales is often viewed as the training ground for the business standouts of tomorrow. Why?

Sales is all about understanding a product (or service or cause) in depth, teaching other people about it (using your written and verbal communication skills) and showing those people how they would benefit. No matter where your career may go in five, 10 or 30 years, the communication and persuasion skills developed in sales will be crucial to your success.

Evergreen Opportunities – Even in a Slump

No job is truly recession-proof, but sales careers come close. Why? Because when organizations are struggling, they typically need to increase revenues, decrease expenses or do both to survive and, eventually, thrive again.

Sales professionals should increase an organization’s revenues, so they’re less likely to be laid off in times of struggle. They’re more likely to get hired during the tough times, too.

Sales Can Be Lucrative

While it may not happen immediately, if you become skilled at selling, you can easily earn more than $100,000 a year. The secret may be a sales job that offers not only a salary, but also a commission on the sales you make.

Don’t dismiss a sales career out of hand, without at least exploring the possibilities in some depth. If you do, you may well be selling yourself – and a potentially rewarding profession – short.


Step 2: Find Your Niche in Sales

Know thyself. It’s some of the oldest advice in the world and still some of the best. Knowing what you can do, what you like to do and how you like to do it is the starting point for finding the right spot for yourself in sales.
1. Personality — What kind of personality do I have?

Would I prefer meeting lots of people or fewer people at a time?

Do I like to be in the office or out of the office?

Do I like to travel or stay close to home?

Am I a “big picture” or “detail-oriented” person?

Am I proactive or passive in seeking out opportunities? Am I persistent?

Do I work better independently or as a part of a team?

Do I like challenges or would I prefer stability?

Am I interested in enterprising, where I start and carry out projects?
Advice:

There are sales positions for nearly every personality type. Someone who is more introverted or passive in seeking opportunities may not fit the mold of a stereotypical salesperson … but don’t be so sure that they can’t be effective. That quiet person may thrive in a position that involves building relationships with only a few clients, and in using tools on the internet to locate opportunities instead of networking in person. It is important to find the best match possible for your personality to make sure that you are as successful and satisfied in your new career.

2. Experience — What have I done well in the past?

Do I have knowledge and experience about:

Showing, promoting, and selling products or services?

Creating marketing strategies?

Using a variety of direct or indirect sales techniques?

Assessing the needs or satisfaction of customers?

Assessing quality standards for services?
Advice:

Looking at the work experience you’ve already had can lead you to the perfect job. Look at what came naturally for you and what didn’t. For example, a past job in food service may have involved customer relationships, promotion of menu item, etc. Someone who enjoyed working with customers in that capacity may find that experience translates well to a career in professional sales.

3. Interests — What sparks and holds my interest?

Do I have the desire to sell?

Am I drawn to a particular industry, such as finance, biotech, or advertising? Do I enjoy reading about that industry?

Am I interested in teaching others about a product or service?
Advice:

A desire to sell is a good indicator that sales is a fit. Keep in mind that this does not mean you need a desire to cold call … that is difficult for many. It just means you enjoy connecting people with goods and services that can help them. If you are drawn to a particular industry then explore what sales opportunities may exist within the scope of that industry.

4. Basic Skills — What basic skills have I developed enough to use professionally?

Reading Comprehension

Mathematical problem solving

Writing to communicate concepts and ideas to clients

Scientific concepts and methods

Critical thinking

Study skills for learning new material

Proficient in multiple languages
Advice:

Do what you are good at. If you are mathematically inclined, than financial services may be an area to explore. If you are scientific, you may explore sales opportunities for technical or scientific supplies. If you never got good grades, it may not matter…many acquire in deep technical knowledge outside of the classroom.


5. Social Skills — What are my personal strengths and weaknesses?

Explore the following areas.

Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Speaking — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Answering Questions — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.

Instructing — Teaching others how to do something.

Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.

Persuasion — Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.

Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.

Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do. Interests
Advice:

Sales typically involves the ability to communicate well. Some careers weigh more heavily on oral communication, and others may weigh on

6. Technical Skills – How are my skills, and what skills would I enjoy developing through my career?

Explore How You Relate to the Following Skills:

Desktop Computer Skills

Reading and Creating Spreadsheets or Financial Statements

Creating PowerPoint Presentations

Navigating and/or Marketing with the Internet

Word Processing & Creating Reports

Creating and Editing Databases
Advice:

Computer skills are becoming universally important in sales. Do not worry if you are not confident in your present skills though. Simply identify the career direction you want to go in and what technical work it requires. Most local community colleges and adult schools offer classes in Excel, PowerPoint, etc.


Step 3: Research Your Industry


Once you have identified an industry that calls to you, you need to learn all you can about the industry, the position, and the economic forecast for sales.

Sales Opportunities – Cyclical and Otherwise

In some industries more than others, sales opportunities mirror the economic cycle. “Employment for transactional sales professionals — like those in mortgages — tends to be more volatile,” says David Hoffmeister, director of DePaul University’s sales leadership program.

Conversely, financial sectors like banking and insurance offer steadier demand for salespeople, “and with the aging population, that demand will just continue to rise.”

In real estate, the mortgage meltdown of 2007 is undoubtedly bad news for many brokers, but there may be a silver lining. “If a mortgage company has a high percentage of nonperforming loans, they might be cutting back on sales,” says Hoffmeister. “But their rivals might be taking advantage and hiring.”

Hot Niches in Sales for 2008 – 2009

Salespeople in hot information technology sectors can remain optimistic, despite the slow economy. “Even if there’s a sales downturn in IT, companies can look at it as an opportunity to bring in new talent,” says James McCoy, senior vice president of consulting services at staffing firm Veritude.

And there are a number of niches where demand for sales experts far outweighs supply. Gutman, whose firm specializes in placing marketing communications professionals, can attest to this. “In online advertising sales, there are more positions open than bodies to fill them,” he says. “Even when our clients aren’t being as picky as they want to be, they have a hard time finding people.”

Money Matters

Work always comes down to dollars. Use SalesHQ’s Salary and Compensation Guide to discover the salaries and commissions that are typical for sales professionals in different industries during their first few years.


Step 4: Learn to Talk the Talk - Your Talk

So you’re looking directly at a sales profession that calls to you. How exciting!

Despite your research and clarity about a career in sales, you may still have some uncertainty about how to sell. We assure you, you are not alone. Even the most successful sales professionals found their groove after years of trial and error in communicating with customers. A useful step is to learn everything you can about sales techniques used by people in your chosen profession. Some sales involve face to face negotiations, others involve networking, and still others involve regular cold calls.

SalesHQ has compiled a Sales Training Center with articles about the following elements of sales to assist prospective and current professionals in sales in becoming closers:


Advancement Client Relationships Objections
Goals Closing Tools Motivation
Leadership Sales Calls Networking
Time Management Sales Stories Marketing
Management Prospecting Negotiation
Referral Selling Communication Utilizing Technology
Entertain Sales Hiring Sales Tips


Use this library to prepare for sales even before you’ve been hired.


Remember, a baseball player doesn’t get better just by reading about baseball. You’ve got to swing the bat. Learning to talk the talk will help you walk the walk, but be prepared that you will have a learning curve in your new career as well that will get easier with time and experience.


Step 5: Identify Educational Requirements

From biotech to carbon credits to the robots that have replaced factory workers, 2008 will see the continued proliferation of complex products, creating a need for salespeople with high-level skills and special subject-matter expertise.

Specialization and Education Are Key

“The demand for educated, trained sales professionals is very high,” says Hoffmeister. About half of DePaul graduates with a major in business and a minor in sales have secured a job by commencement day; 90 percent are employed within three months, Hoffmeister says.

Some employers, large companies in particular, prefer applicants with a college degree for sales positions that require meeting with clients. High school graduates may be hired if they have proven sales ability or have been successful in other types of work.

Your choice of undergraduate major may or may not be important depending on the area of sales you are considering. Majors that translate well to many sales careers include marketing, communications, business, advertising, and psychology.

Industry Professionals

If you are considering a niche sales profession, your choice of major may of greater importance. For example, Financial Services companies may prefer candidates who have completed coursework in finance, accounting, or mathematics. Many areas of sales related to health care and pharmaceuticals prefer or require candidates with a strong background in science.

In addition to the proper educational preparation, some sales professions require meeting your state’s licensing requirements. Licensing is typically involved in health care sales industries such as pharmaceuticals and insurance, as well as in financial services and real estate.

After you have identified your industry, research the required education and/or licensing for an entry-level position. Even if you meet the minimum requirements, it may be worthwhile to take additional coursework that is relevant to the industry as well as public speaking and sales courses.


Step 6: Build Your Network

Sales is about making connections, though not just with customers. Your long-term success as a salesperson depends on your ability to collaborate with others. Networking, whether it involves securing employment, generating business leads or seeking professional advice, yields immeasurable rewards. Building your network will also make it easy for you to make connections to companies or industries by connecting to seasoned professionals.

Many salespeople find it tough to commit the time necessary for effective networking. These tips will help you fit some key strategies into your regular routine.

Network to Seize Opportunity

The first step is to be proactive in learning about – and exposing yourself to – others within your field. Explore the following networking opportunities:

• Network with Sales People: Where applicable, respond to questions on sales career-related communities. Establish yourself as a valuable resource, and you will likely win the respect, advice and interest of your colleagues. Who knows? You may even catch a recruiter’s eye.

• Gather Information: Research your trade and learn about fellow experts within your field.

• Be a Fan: Attend a seminar held by someone in your vocation. After the seminar, send the person an email, advises Len Foley, a sales trainer located in Atlanta. Note your thoughts about the seminar and suggest that the two of you meet to further discuss your mutual professional interests. Moreover, find out what networking groups this person belongs to.

• Join Industry Focused Groups: JFind out where your local industry events and networking groups are. Join an organization in your field to enhance your skills. Joining a group will keep you in the know about new faces and developments in your profession. It may also expose you to the advice of experts and will allow you to share your expertise and, thereby, strengthen your “brand” among your colleagues.

• Identify Yourself: When networking and attending related functions, make sure you have a name tag and you’re easily approachable. If the event you’re attending doesn’t supply a name tag, convert your business card into one.

• Don’t Shy Away from Expert Advice: Listen carefully when a colleague or field expert offers advice. In addition to good counsel, she may give you the inspiration you need to fuel your next big effort.

• Don’t Limit Your Contacts to Your Industry: Be open to meeting people in all avenues in sales. You never know when you may be one person away from the person you’d like to meet.

Build your network before you need it. The great myth of networking is that you start reaching out to others only when you need something – like a job. In reality, people who have the largest circle of contacts, mentors and friends know that you must reach out to others long before you need anything at all.


Step 7: Research Potential Employers

Who’s Who

When you know the area of sales you are headed for then it is then time to learn about the players in the game. Searching on the Internet is a good place to start to make a list of the companies in your industry or location If you are less specific about sales in a certain industry, you might also look at who’s hiring in your area by doing a job search on SalesHQ or by attending a job fair in your area. Job fairs allow you to see who’s hiring and to talk directly to recruiters.

Research The Companies You Are Considering

Finding out as much as you can about prospective employers will not only help you identify the companies that suit you, but will help you land jobs by impressing your interviewers with what you know about them.

The areas you want to research include pay, the culture or company climate, stability, and room for advancement. SalesHQ has a growing list of employer reviews from members. These are particularly helpful for finding out the good. bad, and the ugly about companies from current or past employees.

Visiting the company’s website will give you a lot of information about the company and its executives. If the company is public, you may be able to access a lot more information about them. Talking to HR and company recruiters before you apply may be a good way to get your questions answered and learn more about the candidates they are hiring.

Take your time with this step. You want to end up in the right place.


Step 8: Polish Your Resume

Selling yourself to an employer is your first challenge, and your resume will be your sales pitch.

Sales resumes need to be results-oriented, emphasizing how you will contribute to your employer’s bottom line. Start by creating a profile or career summary that highlights your relevant skills and value to potential employers. Include the main reasons an employer should call you for an interview, and clearly show your areas of expertise and industry knowledge. For example, if you are pursuing a pharmaceutical sales representative position, those keywords and your supporting knowledge should be in the profile. This section is perfect for exhibiting the drive, energy and enthusiasm that is so important in the sales profession.

Document Your Achievements

A need to continually achieve is key to sales success. Prove you are an achiever. Document your three biggest victories, and be prepared to reel off a list of at least seven other significant wins in your life from school, sports, music, class politics, etc. You will achieve again for the employer, because past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. You may not have sales success, but you have had success in other areas. Success leaves clues.

It’s deceptively easy to make mistakes on your resume and exceptionally difficult to repair the damage once an employer gets it. So prevention is critical, especially if you’ve never written one before. Here are the most common pitfalls and how you can avoid them.

Avoid Common Resume Mistakes

1. Typos and Grammatical Errors

Your resume needs to be grammatically perfect. If it isn’t, employers will read between the lines and draw not-so-flattering conclusions about you, like: “This person can’t write,” or “This person obviously doesn’t care.”

2. Lack of Specifics

Employers need to understand what you’ve done and accomplished. For example:

A. Worked with employees in a restaurant setting.
B. Recruited, hired, trained and supervised more than 20 employees in a restaurant with $2 million in annual sales.

Both of these phrases could describe the same person, but details and specifics in example B will more likely grab an employer’s attention.

3. Attempting One Size Fits All

Whenever you try to develop a one-size-fits-all resume to send to all employers, you almost always end up with something employers will toss in the recycle bin. Employers want you to write a resume specifically for them. They expect you to clearly show how and why you fit the position in a specific organization.

4. Highlighting Duties Instead of Accomplishments

It’s easy to slip into a mode where you simply start listing job duties on your resume. For example:

• Attended group meetings and recorded minutes.

• Worked with children in a day-care setting.

• Updated departmental files.

Employers, however, don’t care so much about what you’ve done as what you’ve accomplished in your various activities. They’re looking for statements more like these:

• Used laptop computer to record weekly meeting minutes and compiled them in a Microsoft Word-based file for future organizational reference.

• Developed three daily activities for preschool-age children and prepared them for a 10-minute holiday program performance.

• Reorganized 10 years’ worth of unwieldy files, making them easily accessible to department members.

5. Going on Too Long or Cutting Things Too Short

Despite what you may read or hear, there are no real rules governing the length of your resume. Why? Because human beings, who have different preferences and expectations where resumes are concerned, will be reading it.

That doesn’t mean you should start sending out five-page resumes, of course. Generally speaking, you usually need to limit yourself to a maximum of two pages. But don’t feel you have to use two pages if one will do. Conversely, don’t cut the meat out of your resume simply to make it conform to an arbitrary one-page standard.

6. A Bad Objective

Employers do read your resume’s objective statement, but too often they plow through vague pufferies like, “Seeking a challenging position that offers professional growth.” Give employers something specific and, more importantly, something that focuses on their needs as well as your own. Example: “A challenging entry-level marketing position that allows me to contribute my skills and experience in fund-raising for nonprofits.”

7. No Action Verbs

Avoid using phrases like “responsible for.” Instead, use action verbs: “Resolved user questions as part of an IT help desk serving 4,000 students and staff.”

8. Leaving Off Important Information

You may be tempted, for example, to eliminate mention of the jobs you’ve taken to earn extra money for school. Typically, however, the soft skills you’ve gained from these experiences (e.g., work ethic, time management) are more important to employers than you might think.

9. Visually Too Busy

If your resume is wall-to-wall text featuring five different fonts, it will most likely give the employer a headache. So show your resume to several other people before sending it out. Do they find it visually attractive? If what you have is hard on the eyes, revise.

10. Incorrect Contact Information

I once worked with a student whose resume seemed incredibly strong, but he wasn’t getting any bites from employers. So one day, I jokingly asked him if the phone number he’d listed on his resume was correct. It wasn’t. Once he changed it, he started getting the calls he’d been expecting. Moral of the story: Double-check even the most minute, taken-for-granted details — sooner rather than later.

Coverletters

Coverletters should NEVER be one size fits all. Think of resume cover letters as jalapeno peppers-small, but packing a wallop. Stating specifics that attract you to that company will show HR that you have done your homework and know you are a fit.

Get tips on how to write a killer cover letter.


Step 9: Get Hired & Negotiate Your Comp Plan


After you receive a job offer, there is typically a lot of room to negotiate salary and commission, which are often called a “comp plan” in sales. Remember salary negotiation after a job offer is the best time to take control of the situation. Once you have accepted the job offer, your chances to renegotiate are typically tied to performance reviews.

Negotiation and Closing

Need help fashioning a to-do list on how to negotiate salary with a current or future employer? Give the following salary negotiating tips a try, from Laura DeCarlo, executive director of Career Directors International in Melbourne, Fla.

1. Do your homework. This includes researching the current market value for the position and carrying that knowledge with you into the talks. Creating a PayScale Salary Profile and keeping it updated helps you to always know the median value for your skill set. Learn how to negotiate salary from a position strength by having the most current salary information for your job. Use SalesHQ’s Salary & Commission Guide for Sales Careers to assist you.

2. Know your needs and wants. “You have a range in mind of what you’d really like. Otherwise, if you are out in left field-you are never going to be successful. [For example] a woman who wants to make $55,000 a year and decides she’s changing careers and wants to be a typist-I don’t know many $55,000-a-year typists,” DeCarlo said.

3. Learn a methodology for handling the questions, “What are you looking for?” and “What kind of salary do you want?” According to DeCarlo, the bottom line is, “I’m negotiable.” If it’s too soon to talk about money, she encourages applicants to change the discussion topic to job requirements or expectations. Learn how to negotiate salary by being prepared for salary questions during the interview.

4. Know your options and ask, ask, ask. Be familiar with possible perks and benefits, and ways to increase your salary; brainstorming and making lists can be useful here. “I’ve seen people turn it into mileage allowances for driving. Anything is potentially negotiable unless you don’t ask about it,” she said.

5. Always negotiate in person. “You can’t read an expression, show a presentation, or have convincing reasons quite as well on the phone as you can when you engage them [employers] face-to-face,” DeCarlo said. Learning how to negotiate salary in person is a key to higher earnings.


Step 10: Set Your Goals for Your First Year

Once you have reached your goal of entering your dream career in professional sales, its time to develop a whole new set of goals. Now comes the fun part: closing deals and making money.

Create some goals for your first year and run them by someone else at your company. Make sure they are ambitious, but not unrealistic. Setting goals that are too high will make you feel like a failure when you need not. Remember, you are new to sales, and your first year is about learning and refining your technique.

The realization of your goals depends on your ability to visualize these objectives in concrete terms and commit to these terms with full purpose.

Use the following tips to help you set and achieve your goals.

Discover Your Target

Define Your Values: Make a list of the things you want. Most people are unclear about their desires. Sure, you want to make more money, but why? What are your ultimate dreams? Put your list into categories: personal, professional, spiritual and any other areas that represent your value system. Number them according to priority.


Be Proactive: How many times have you set your goals based on what was expected of you instead of upping your level of commitment to produce beyond the expected? Don’t base your expectations on past failures. Think and dream like a child; don’t concern yourself with the details before you set your goal.

Track Your Target

Create a Ritual: Review your goals every day, morning, noon and evening for seven to 14 days, until you have them memorized. If you get off course, focus on what you need to do at that moment to refocus.


Assess the Risks Involved: When you are purpose-driven, you consciously take calculated risks. Research the risks you could take to accomplish your dreams and make educated decisions about taking them; think of them as chances you should consider taking to approach your goal.


Address the Risks Involved: List the expected obstacles, and think of solutions to these challenges. What needs to change? Evaluate your current level of commitment. What resources will you need to accomplish your goals? Ask yourself: “What am I prepared to sacrifice in order to meet my objective?” For example, your current income is $125,000 and your target income for next year is $175,000. How will you generate an extra $50,000? Where will it come from? What type of sacrifice do you need to make in order to reach your reward?


Master Your Trade: List the organizations you could join that may help you in overcoming your obstacles. Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock, says that “the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read or write, but instead those that will not learn, unlearn and relearn.”


Pace Yourself: When setting your goals, develop a group of pacesetters. We have four financial quarters each year; evaluate the success of your goals every three months. Break your annual goal into quarters by planning, evaluating and taking an honest inventory of your level of contribution.

Terminate with Your Success

At each stage of your pacesetting process, upon careful consideration, evaluate and record all accomplishments and look for ways to terminate your less-than-desirable results. Never give up. Remember: You are the director; if something is not working, change the script.



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