What to Know About Sales Jobs Before Taking One

What to Know About Sales Jobs Before Taking One What to Know About Sales Jobs Before Taking One Occupations Careers / https://www.edenscott.com/blog There are a few things you should know about a sales job before taking one. If youre considering a sales career, dont worry this article will take you through EVERYTHING you need to know about working in sales.The reality is: Most people dont know what a sales job is like. You dont learn much about this in school.Most people learn about career paths like Finance, Accounting, Science, Engineering.Because schools cannot (or do not) teach sales techniques, youre usually introduced to the option.So lets get started heres what you should know about sales before you take that job!Everything You Need to Know About SalesSales jobs are a pretty well-kept secretI cant name many other jobs where you can earn millions with just a bachelors degree, and Ive seen multiple salespeople making 7-figures FIRST hand with random bachelors degrees like History, English, etc.And you can also forget the stereotypes about how a career in sales requires an outgoing or extrover ted personality because its simply not true. Being a great listener is a powerful skill to have for working in sales.So those are some of the perks or best parts of working in sales, but there are also a lot of misconceptionsWorking in Sales Isnt What You Think It IsHere are the top 5 skills that are most important to succeed in a sales job:Great listenerHigh emotional intelligence/empathyIntuitive and able to read peoples reactionsNot afraid to address tough issues as they come up, or dig deeper to find someones true feelings about a subjectTough-minded and able to bounce back from rejection or continue through a tough day or weekForgot the movies youve seen like Boiler Room. Very few people cold-call anymore. Forget Always Be Closing. It should be Always Be Building Relationships and Earning Credibility/Trust. And that does NOT take an outgoing or loud personality.How Much Money Can a Salesperson Make?Its not uncommon for people in sales to earn more than $100,000, and sometimes m any muliples of that amount in B2B (business to business) sales. This is possible because many sales roles are paid commission in addition to base salary, which earns them a percentage of the deals they close. This creates an unlimited up-side in potential earnings.Sales is one of the best ways Ive ever seen to make money without an advanced degree and without paying your dues and climbing the corporate ladder for years or even decades.Sales is one of the few jobs where youre paid for the results you deliver, not the amount of time you spend in the office. If youre unsure why, heresan article I wrote specifically on this subject.I know what youre thinking now: Being paid commission is too unreliable. I cant have that kind of risk. Well, plenty of good sales jobs have a base salary of $50K-60K.Thats hardly unreliable, in fact, its more than a lot of people are paid in total. Add in commissions and youre earning hundreds of thousands if you find the right company and industry. What in dustry? Check out the next two sections.Other Benefits of Sales Jobs You Should Know About:High pay isnt the only benefit to a job in salesMany people in inside sales work remotely or at least have some flexibility to work from home. All you need is a phone and computer!Youre prettyessential to the company, soyoure a lot less likely to be laid off during company struggles.Sales is a very transferable and valuable skill so you can change industries or companies relatively easily, although youd have to build a new network of course.Youll develop a lot as a person by working in sales. Youll have to leave your comfort zone and push yourself, and youll experience massive personal growth because of it much more than in other jobs/industries. This is true of being a recruiter, too, which I experienced myself.The Downsides of Working a Sales JobIve mentioned some of the benefits of working in sales above, and Ill share even more coming up. But this wouldnt be a good article on what you shou ld know about sales jobs if it didnt include the downsides, too.So lets talk about some of the negative aspects of sales jobs now. Heres what to know about sales that isnt so greatFirst, its very high-pressure.There are goals and quotas and youre always chasing.And failing to meet your goals consistently can even cost you your job. Sales is one of the few jobs where you can be fired just for not being great at it. Usually in other positions, you have to be really making mistakes to get fired, but not in sales. In sales, if you dont close deals, youre costing the company money and they may fire you.This wont happen right away, dont worry. A good company will train you very well and be extremely patient as you learn the basics of your role.But if its been six months and youre still not closing any deals, they might have a talk with you about how sales might not be the right fit for you.Sales jobs are also competitive. Sales teams tend to be full of alpha-males (and females), and peopl e who love to compete. Its not unusual for many sales teams to be filled with people who played sports in school, etc.Now, I mentioned earlier that you can be quiet and introverted and still succeed in sales, and thats 100% true. But you need to be able to survive on a team where most people arent like you. Thats the key. Youre not going to be surrounded by other introverts in sales, even though you can be a huge success as one!Those are the major cons or downsides you should know about sales jobs. Otherwise, its a very good career.The Best Type of Sales Job to Take (and What to AVOID)You should focus on corporate sales (also known as Business to Businessor B2B sales). This category usually holds the best sales jobs.The opposite would be business to consumer (B2C) which could include selling phones at Verizon, selling cars, etc. You dont want to sell to individual consumers for a few reasons. The biggest reason is that individual consumers dont have that much money. How are you goin g to close a $10 million deal with a single person? Youre not. A single company? No problem.There are two main types of B2Bsales jobs: Inside Sales and Outside Sales. Inside salespeople are office-based and primarily contact people via phone, email, etc. Outside sales involves travel, meeting face to face, etc. An inside salesperson will meet people face to face occasionally depending on the job, but this is usually quite rare, sometimes not even once per month.Whichever you choose is up to you. Be sure to find out what the job involves when you apply though. The job description shouldspecify. If you see travel mentioned, the job is outside sales.What Industry or Company Should I Look For?To find the best sales jobs, lookfor companies with high margins and high profitability. They can afford to pay you more commission!!Software companies are an example of a very high margin business. They have largeupfront RD costs to develop a piece of software, but once its done the cost to create and package a CD with software loaded on is less than a dollar. Its pure profit at that point, and they can afford to pay you a hefty commission because each sale you bring in is money right in their pocket (and your pocket).Any company thats profitable and earning a high margin is a good place to work in sales. Here are some areas to try:Commercial real estateBusiness SoftwareFinancial ServicesInsuranceTelecommunicationsAny service with a recurring subscriptionor ongoing fees (just make sure the commission structure continues to pay you for this!)Warning Signs to Watch for in a Sales Job:If you decide to look for your first job in sales, be careful to select a company that offers a good training program and a comfortable base salary while training.Avoid the companies that pay only commission and no salary, or companies that require you to start as a temporary employee to try it out. These companies will hire many people regardless of whether they think they can do the job, and the y risk relatively little if somebody fails.You want a company thats going to investtime and resources into making sure you succeed! A good company with a healthy sales organization will trust in their ability to train you and get you up to speed, and will have no problem paying you a fair salaryduring this training period and beyond.When interviewing, aska lot of questions and make sure you understand the compensation structure. Interviewing for a sales job is different than most interviews. You can ask questions about the compensation structure and its not considered off-limits usually. Try asking what the top earners made last year. Ask what the average person earns in their first and second year. Questions like this will paint a clear picture of what you can accomplish if you put in the effort.That concludes everything you should know about sales jobs before starting one. If you think sales might be a good career choice for you, give it a try. You wont know if you dont try it, an d youll be learning very valuable skills that you can take with you in your career even if you decide a career in sales isnt right for you.