Selling is Essential
Our economy is and has forever been driven by sales. All commerce involves sales transactions being made. If sales were suspended the day-to-day business world as we know it would grind to a halt. All employment, in any category, is created and supported by sales revenue. No sales = no jobs for anyone. That makes salespeople pretty important and absolutely necessary to business and industry.
Workers in the blue and white collar workforce deliver the products and services sold to end users by salespeople. These people work for companies and fill positions for the purpose of fulfilling sales contracts. All workers are trained either formally or on the job to do their part to get the job done.
There is Another World Out There
Many workers are unaware of the parallel universe, an army of others, who sell what they produce or sell products or services to them in support of their jobs. Accountants buy accounting software, computer hardware, business forms, and books, attend classes, and require support services for their systems. There are dozens of different jobs that support accounting and accountants. On the other hand, public accountants sell their services to other businesses. Likewise, there are many similar opportunities in health care, engineering, government, manufacturing, distribution and in all other categories of business and industry. There is no end to opportunities for employment in sales.
It's a Very Big Space
For example, there are a large number of sales transactions that are made, in the manufacture of an automobile…before cars leave the showroom. The actual sale of an automobile is the climax of a string of sales that can be traced back to the real estate salesperson who sold the land to the mine that dug up the iron ore that eventually became steel for the car’s frame. Think it over. Every raw material, transportation, tool, process, facility, every sales transaction that happened in the process of manufacturing an automobile could number many hundreds. There are probably more sales made than can be documented. The great news is that as part of every sale a salesperson was involved and compensated.
Just Talk the Talk
So, there are hundreds of thousands of sales jobs that sell to people like you, companies like yours. Who fills those jobs? People like you, with the knowledge and skill set like yours, sell to people like you. If you are a medical laboratory technologist, there are dozens of people who sell to you. Salespeople in this space know their customer’s job…they can talk the talk. They can easily discuss reagents, photometers, culture media, and the hundreds of other categories of supplies and equipment that support a medical laboratory. Guess what? Every product or service has multiple vendors for each and they all employ dedicated salespeople.
Sales Jobs Go Begging
You can sell. Sales jobs are out there looking for people. Companies are hiring ambitious people who understand their products or services and are willing and able to learn their sales processes. There are many different types of sales jobs and different ways to conduct day-to-day business, but in every case the high level goal is to call on customers and prospective customers, uncover their needs, fill their needs, and while doing so, make sales transactions.
Top Earnings Potential
Successful salespeople are highly compensated. Because selling is a career that offers no practical limits salespeople can advance to “professional” status by learning how to behave and by working hard. Think about people you know who are in sales. The good ones do pretty well financially. The great ones earn great money and live like other professionals…doctors, lawyers and business owners and executives.
Not Too Hard...In Theory
Selling is not too complicated. In a very basic way sales jobs require you to meet new friends and get to know them and their needs. Salespeople fill the needs of their customers. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale said: “Find a need and fill it.” That is simple enough. Another great definition of the sales process came from Mark Thelen. Mark noted that “Selling is activity based on a fair exchange of value. After the transaction, both parties are better off.” What could be a better way to spend a career than fairly exchanging value with nice people who need your products or services?
Consider A Sales Career
Anyone who is out of work, displaced and searching for a new career should consider a career is sales. There are many types of sales positions in various categories, but they all offer opportunities for unemployed or under employed to get a fresh start and earn a good to great living.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Salespeople Need Courage
Long ago I learned that courage is a key element of a successful sales career.
What is there to be afraid of in sales?
Other than the potential for an angry prospect or customer to give you a tough time, there doesn’t seem to be much to be afraid of. Then why is courage an attribute of success? Salespeople need courage to address and overcome more subtle challenges that we all face on a continuing basis.
Rejection
Rejection was my biggest personal hurdle. I was afraid of failure for the first few years of my career. I was afraid to be turned down by prospects or customers. Rejection was embarrassing and humiliating. It became such a problem for me that I stopped calling on busy customers so that if I was turned away or told no that others would not witness the humiliation. Once I recognized that my career would be over if I couldn’t overcome fear, I became determined to suck it up and make those calls anyway, under any circumstances. I was still nervous, but I did what I had to do anyway. Having courage to fight through my fear saved my sales career.
Competition
If something is worthwhile, a good product or service to sell, a money maker, you can be sure that there will be serious competition. Competition used to make me nervous. It was hard to sit in a waiting room staring down the guy or girl who wanted to beat me. At some point I decided that I was going to stand up to competition and fight to win every time, always. I studied my competition. I learned about them, their strengths and weaknesses. I worked at being better than the competition. My funniest incident happened one day when a strong competitor drove in the customer’s parking lot behind me. No kidding, I actually ran from the car to the door and was seen first. First come first served. I got over worrying about competitors and decided to win baby win.
Change
Just about the time you get control of your career and get in a groove, things seem to change. No, things always change. Change can be our friend if we understand and adapt to it. We need courage to step into unknown territory, away from the security of what we know, our comfort zones. Winners don’t worry about change and winners don’t procrastinate when change arrives. They continue to learn about, adapt to and master changes that others withdraw from or ignore. The reality is that those who aren’t courageous enough to change will fail.
Security
Have you ever worried about your job, your security? Sure you have. We all have. With house payments, car payments, kids to raise and a lifestyle to maintain I used to worry about my future constantly. What if my industry changed? (It did), what if my employer faltered? (It did) What if? What if? What if? If you can’t live in the insecure world of sales, you won’t make it. When I began to realize that my career security was based on the skills and work habits I developed, I stopped worrying. I started to believe in myself. Our reality is that as producing sales professional we are totally employable. All companies need sales and that requires talented salespeople. Need a job? Get the word out and the phone will ring. The good news is that you provide your own career security and are immune from outside factors. Stop worrying.
The Lesson
Over time, I have conditioned myself to overcome my fears to deal with rejection, competition and change. “No” became “Non-Yes”. Competitors were left behind in the dust and change became my friend…a welcome opportunity to establish a competitive advantage. I stopped worrying about career security. It stopped being a problem.
Practical Application
A few weeks ago I was kicked out of a building by a big guy who decided he didn’t want to talk to me after all and wanted me out of his office immediately. He was a former Marine Staff Sergeant (evidenced by lots of stuff on his office walls), so I willingly left right away. Once in the parking lot I checked and did not have any visible bumps or bruises. My feelings were not even hurt. As a forty year veteran salesperson in the field, and at sixty-two years of age, I had again been severely rejected by a prospective customer. My attitude was “So what, next?”
In Hindsight
I should have qualified that guy a little better.
What is there to be afraid of in sales?
Other than the potential for an angry prospect or customer to give you a tough time, there doesn’t seem to be much to be afraid of. Then why is courage an attribute of success? Salespeople need courage to address and overcome more subtle challenges that we all face on a continuing basis.
Rejection
Rejection was my biggest personal hurdle. I was afraid of failure for the first few years of my career. I was afraid to be turned down by prospects or customers. Rejection was embarrassing and humiliating. It became such a problem for me that I stopped calling on busy customers so that if I was turned away or told no that others would not witness the humiliation. Once I recognized that my career would be over if I couldn’t overcome fear, I became determined to suck it up and make those calls anyway, under any circumstances. I was still nervous, but I did what I had to do anyway. Having courage to fight through my fear saved my sales career.
Competition
If something is worthwhile, a good product or service to sell, a money maker, you can be sure that there will be serious competition. Competition used to make me nervous. It was hard to sit in a waiting room staring down the guy or girl who wanted to beat me. At some point I decided that I was going to stand up to competition and fight to win every time, always. I studied my competition. I learned about them, their strengths and weaknesses. I worked at being better than the competition. My funniest incident happened one day when a strong competitor drove in the customer’s parking lot behind me. No kidding, I actually ran from the car to the door and was seen first. First come first served. I got over worrying about competitors and decided to win baby win.
Change
Just about the time you get control of your career and get in a groove, things seem to change. No, things always change. Change can be our friend if we understand and adapt to it. We need courage to step into unknown territory, away from the security of what we know, our comfort zones. Winners don’t worry about change and winners don’t procrastinate when change arrives. They continue to learn about, adapt to and master changes that others withdraw from or ignore. The reality is that those who aren’t courageous enough to change will fail.
Security
Have you ever worried about your job, your security? Sure you have. We all have. With house payments, car payments, kids to raise and a lifestyle to maintain I used to worry about my future constantly. What if my industry changed? (It did), what if my employer faltered? (It did) What if? What if? What if? If you can’t live in the insecure world of sales, you won’t make it. When I began to realize that my career security was based on the skills and work habits I developed, I stopped worrying. I started to believe in myself. Our reality is that as producing sales professional we are totally employable. All companies need sales and that requires talented salespeople. Need a job? Get the word out and the phone will ring. The good news is that you provide your own career security and are immune from outside factors. Stop worrying.
The Lesson
Over time, I have conditioned myself to overcome my fears to deal with rejection, competition and change. “No” became “Non-Yes”. Competitors were left behind in the dust and change became my friend…a welcome opportunity to establish a competitive advantage. I stopped worrying about career security. It stopped being a problem.
Practical Application
A few weeks ago I was kicked out of a building by a big guy who decided he didn’t want to talk to me after all and wanted me out of his office immediately. He was a former Marine Staff Sergeant (evidenced by lots of stuff on his office walls), so I willingly left right away. Once in the parking lot I checked and did not have any visible bumps or bruises. My feelings were not even hurt. As a forty year veteran salesperson in the field, and at sixty-two years of age, I had again been severely rejected by a prospective customer. My attitude was “So what, next?”
In Hindsight
I should have qualified that guy a little better.
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