How Many Would You Like? One Or Two Dozen? (My Experiences and Advice)

Name: kenjohn

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Send message to member

Product:	My Experiences and Advice
Date:	20.11.04 (110 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can earn you a fortune

Disadvantages: You can end up in the loony bin!

~ ~ “A salesperson is born and not bred”
You’ll hear this expression a lot in the sales world.
Also, “Oh. Tom/Mary/Joe is a born salesman/saleswoman”

~ ~ So is it true? ARE salespeople born and not bred, or is it a skill that almost anyone can learn if they apply themselves? The answer to that question is contradictory, as the answer is both yes and no.
No, salespeople AREN’T born. Nobody comes out of his or her mother’s womb with the innate, inborn ability to be a good salesperson. And yes, most people CAN be taught at least the technical skills required to be a good salesperson.
But I do strongly believe that selling suits a certain “personality type”, and that no matter how good the training involved some people will never really be able to get a handle on the art of good selling, while others take to it like a duck to water.

~ ~ I spent the best part of 30 years in the sometimes cutthroat world of sales, and have sold many different products and services. I also spent a number of years on the training side of things, trying to pass on what I had learned to new, aspiring salespeople.
The first thing a person thinking about a career in sales should be highly aware of is that it is NOT a secure profession. Another expression you’ll often hear in the sales game is “You’re only as good as your last sale.” And it’s the literal truth. Sales managers, like their salespeople, invariably have targets to meet, and while they may cut a good salesperson a bit of slack if they have a couple of bad months/quarters, the chances are that if you continually under perform then you’ll very quickly find yourself looking for a new job.

~ ~ Sales is the “cutting edge” of the business world, and no matter how good the product or service and no matter how big or wealthy the company, without a good sales team marketing their product then their whole operation will soon come to a grinding halt. If no product or service is being sold then the company’s cash flow is non-existent, and they then have no capital to pay the rest of their staff, or to invest in new research and development to keep ahead of their competitors. So a good, highly productive and efficient sales force is an absolute essential for even the smallest of enterprises, and this is why you will often find that a good salesperson can earn an enormous income. A good salesperson is ALWAYS in demand, and will often be “poached” by other companies offering them all sorts of incentives, commissions and bonuses to change jobs.

~ ~ So how do you know if sales is a good career choice for you, and if you decide it is, then how do you go about getting yourself started on the career ladder?
The first essential for a good salesperson is tremendous communication skills, especially the spoken word. Words are a salesperson’s main “tools of the trade”, and without the ability to put across what you are trying to say clearly and succinctly then you have no chance of success. I remember my first ever “official” sales job which involved me moving from Scotland to cover the counties of Oxfordshire and Berkshire in the Home Counties. I had good communication skills right enough, or I wouldn’t have got the job in the first place, but initially my accent was so strongly Scottish that I had an awful time getting anybody to understand a solitary word I was saying, never mind trying to actually sell them anything! So I had to make a concerted and concentrated effort to “tone down” my Scottish drawl and get rid of my distinctly Scottish phrases and colloquialisms in order to make myself understood. After I managed this trick there was no holding me!

~ ~ If you have a shy retiring type of personality, always preferring to take a back seat and not stand out from the crowd, then sales is not for you.
Salespeople DO have to have the type of personality that doesn’t shirk from a challenge and the sort of dogged determination that simply wont take “no” for an answer. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve made a sales call only to be told by the potential customer, “You’re wasting your time. We can’t afford it/we don’t want it/it doesn’t suit our operation”. Take your pick from any number of excuses customers will give simply to get a salesperson out of their hair! Only for me to walk out a short while later with a nice order in my briefcase, and another nice fat commission winging its way towards my bank account!
So determination to succeed is an essential attribute.

~ ~ If you decide that a sales career IS for you, then the next difficulty that you can face is actually getting a job! When starting out in sales you often find yourself in a classic “Catch 22” situation. No previous sales experience often disqualifies you from many positions right from the get go. But HOW do you get the experience if nobody will give you a job?
Fortunately, there are many avenues open to you, as there are many different types of sales position you can apply for.
Firstly, there’s the field of “specialised” sales. Let’s take pharmaceuticals as a good example. In order to get a position as a pharmaceutical salesperson it’s nearly a prerequisite to have some sort of degree, or at least be able to prove that you have the technical know how to talk with some level of competence to doctors and the like without making a complete arse of yourself! So a good degree/diploma/qualification in a specialised area will often allow you to get your foot in the door of the sales world. (For pharmaceuticals you can read any number of different fields of expertise)

~ ~ If you have no qualifications but still want to be a salesperson then you can gain experience by taking jobs that pay on a “commission only” basis. (No basic salary) These are usually quite easy to find, as obviously it costs the company concerned very little to take you on, and absolutely nothing if you turn out to be a complete failure and sell nothing! Some of these types of sales position are nothing short of slave labour, so you have to be careful in the one you pick. That said, if you can find a commission only position that pays well, then often it could turn out to be one of the highest paid sales jobs around. I once worked on a part time basis for Encyclopaedia Britannica on this basis, and made myself a fortune in commission in the process!
A word of warning. Avoid pyramid selling companies (now called multi-level marketing) like the plague, unless you are a VERY experienced sales person and manage to get in very close to the start-up. (The top of the pyramid) This type of “job” often calls on you to make a largish financial investment, and also to be constantly “recruiting” and training new salespeople to build yourself a team. A typical example of this type of unethical sales company is the plethora of telecommunications companies (cheaper phone calls) that seem to have sprung up since the telecom market was deregulated.
I HAVE (on the very odd occasion) made some handy cash with multi-level marketing companies, but I’m a VERY experienced salesperson and not easily taken in by the hype and spoof they often feed newcomers. The whole area is a total minefield, and to be avoided by all but the most experienced people.

~ ~ The best type of sales position is one that pays you a basic salary and a commission on sales. Often you will also either be supplied with a company car or given a generous car allowance to run your own. This is the type of sales position that I worked in for most of my time in sales, and by far the most stable and lucrative.
This is where the “Catch 22” situation I mentioned earlier often applies. A lot of companies wont even consider employing you unless you either have an extensive (and successful) track record behind you, and/or (to make things even more difficult) experience in their own particular field. But don’t despair, as this isn’t ALWAYS the case. I worked for many years for Rank Xerox, (the large American multi-national) and they had a policy of taking on bright people with no sales experience (but with an aptitude for the job) and training them in their own way of doing things. This way the company got salespeople with no preconceived notions or ideas of the “right” way of selling, and was able to train them to an exceptionally high level. (The sales training in Xerox was universally recognised as being the best in the business, and was very intensive and ongoing throughout a person’s career!)
This type of sales job is (relatively) secure, and pays exceptionally well if you are a good salesperson. A company car is still a HUGE perk, even with the advent of having to pay “benefit in kind” taxation. If you travel more than 60,000 miles in a year then the amount of tax you pay will be negligible, and most busy salespeople will cover FAR more miles than this. (At least, 60,000 miles is the current figure here in Ireland. I’m not 100% sure what it is now in the UK)

~ ~ The last sort of sales position is either in internal sales (in a store or shop) or else in telephone sales.
Internal salespeople tend to earn less than outside representatives, as the customer is coming to them, rather than they having to seek them out themselves and create totally new business.
Telephone selling is another barrel of fish entirely, and something I don’t personally know too much about. I would imagine it pays fairly well, as it’s not something I think would be easy to master. (No visual feedback or body language from the potential customer)
Once you have your foot in the door of the sales world and start to build yourself a good record and resume, then the sky is quite literally the limit. (At least as far as earning potential is concerned) I know people here in Ireland who are involved in software and hardware sales in the IT market, and the amount of money they earn is almost obscene!

~ ~ There are drawbacks to a sales career that you have to consider though. The stress levels and the constant pressure to keep producing good sales figures can wear you out very quickly, and many a salesperson has ended up in a mental institution as a consequence. If you’re an “on the road” salesperson then this can mean you spending long periods away from home, and living out of a suitcase in hotels and guesthouses. This can play bloody havoc with your personal relationships and family life.
This is the main reason I eventually decided to call it a day in sales about ten years ago. Despite the huge earnings I had simply grown tired of quite literally being a “vagabond” and wanted to spend more time at home with my family. I’d also become somewhat cynical with all the “hype and spoof” that seems to be endemic in the sales world, and cynicism in a salesperson is NOT a good thing.

~ ~ But you pay your money and take your choice. Certainly I would never discourage anyone from trying for a sales career if they feel they have the aptitude and potential to do so. I spent many happy and lucrative years doing just that!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

FOOTNOTE - The title of this review is a simple example of what is called in the sales world an “alternative” close. You give the customer the option of picking either “one or two dozen”, but NOT the option of saying “no”! (Mind you, they often still do. Heh, heh)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

© KenJ November 2004

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Summary: