So, you are considering entering the world of the Sales Professional eh?

Awesome!

It has been rightly said that the Western World’s would come to a grinding to a halt unless someone sold something somewhere … at a profit!

Let’s be absolutely clear here! I am not talking about those who sell merchandise inside a department store, or those who are simply ‘repeat order takers,’ those who simply deliver locally domestic goods to stores albeit from multi nationals like Cocoa Cola or Lever Bros.

I am looking at those highly motivated and skilled professionals who have been given a defined territory to manage, who have a sales target to reach each month. Those people who have a defined range of products or services they need to ‘move’ attached to which is a significant commission element radically changing their monthly salary.

Such people literally make the Western World go around!

So, before you embark on this significant and highly demanding career, let me share with you, as a former highly successful salesman, what is required of you … personally.

‘Professional sales’ is a world of vivid contrasts!! When you are ‘on target’ for your current month then the colors in the world around you are vivid and vibrant…. There’s a lightness in your heart, a little ‘giddy up’ in your step … until you consider how you can repeat your performance next month.

And when you are not on target and have little prospects to achieve the sales your sales director requires you to make, then you will feel like you walk inside a cloud of gloom… no matter how bright the sun is shining!

Let’s be brutally honest here!

Many people, like I was, are attracted to “sales” as they are often presented with what they see are the ‘Benefits’ – an important term for you to understand. And all that many looking at a career in sales ‘see’ is the company car, having an expense account for food & gasoline and being able to stay in 4-star hotels. Let’s not forget there’s the attraction of ‘incomes that can be achieved’ …. But which are only IF you get to the lofty goal of OTE (On Target Earnings), meaning a consistent record of repeat sales.

What is also hidden is that professional sales is often a very solitary lifestyle which is imposed by the size of your ‘patch’ or sales territory. This can look like spending hours driving, (I used to drive 1000 miles a week!) and then dealing with frustrations of the company you work for when they failing to ‘back up’ the promises you made in good faith to your customers (concerning product quality, availability etc.); finally, I reiterate the hours you will spend on your own … away from your friends and family!

If this describes you and you feel that this is something you can handle, then you are on the right page and as you read on, I can pour into you the wisdom of my experience to maximize the rate at which you can achieve success.

So now, let’s explore what this world of Sales could mean for you. What may well be expected of you and how can you personally meet the demands of your sales director or marketing CEO?

In the series of posts we will look at various aspects of the particular sales job you are considering and how this may affect your ability to attain ‘success’

We will consider if you have a local office to work out of…. Or, if you are part of a multinational organization then what it means if you have to work out of your home.( If the latter this could have a serious impact on your family life if you fail to affect a rigorous policy of separating home and work life. Important will cover this important aspect later.)

Unlike organizations that do not run on profit such as those in local government, education or employees in retail stores…. when you are not working your territory you are not earning and if you are not calling on your customer base then sales representatives of the ‘competition’ certainly are. Their activity will be eroding your present and future income. This means that the essential requirements of those who truly wish to be successful in Sales is to have an attitude that is driving and assertive. The desire to attain goals and the inherent need to be the equivalent of an “Energizer Bunny” who is using rechargeable batteries!

It is in the winning and losing of orders which is perhaps the feature that accentuates the emotional roller coaster of this industry. Demands that will be made of you will not really be fully understood by anyone who is not in the same field of work as you are…. So putting it bluntly…significant relationships suffer so top salespeople are invariably those who are single.

So let’s summarize this aspect of this topic. There’s no doubt that those who are involved in Sales are a vital part of our economy and there are indeed great financial rewards available to those who participate. Equally there’s no doubt that these will be well and truly earned through long hours and often a solitary if not a lonely life. Neither will you succeed if you are not naturally a ‘self-starter’ – someone who can face disappointments and setbacks faced on a regular basis and ‘bounce back’ against them – and someone who is not prepared to work very hard! However, if you can bring these attributes to bear on your sales career you will be part of an elite section of society – a professional salesperson!

If you still want to pursue this career then read Lesson Two where I will begin to deal with how to maximize your sales efficiency.

Look for my next blog where I will be again sharing, specifically, how you can make this work …. For YOU!