7 Tips for Starting a Career in Sales

Starting out a career in sales? Early jobs in the field can be daunting. Learning the ropes and getting used to dealing with clients can cause significant anxiety. 

However, these early years also offer an excellent opportunity to set the stage for your later success. By concentrating on skill development, you can supercharge your future career. It’s just a matter of learning the right habits and gathering the most relevant knowledge. 

But where to start? Here are seven things you can do to enhance your sales career from the start:  

Seek Out Experience 

Building a resume in most industries is difficult. Meaningful responsibility is hard to find. In sales, however, you can sometimes jump the line. Companies are often desperate for sales help and are willing to train willing newbies.  

Meanwhile, the field offers diverse opportunities, with lots of potential compensation structures. If you are able to take advantage of the situation, many companies provide low-salary, high-commission sales jobs. Since experienced help tends to steer away from these positions, you have a good chance to earn critical front-line chops. 

Work on Active Listening  

Sales work isn’t just about pushing a company’s products. It’s also about providing value for customers and matching their needs with the solutions you have to offer. In order to reach this level of service, you need to be able to read your customers well.  

More than just hearing what they say, you need to interpret their basic requirements and assumptions. Active listening lets you do this. This skill will help you close sales and develop long-term relationships. 

Get Organized  

When people think about a good salesperson, they usually concentrate on the customer-facing aspects. The pitch, the way the salesperson makes the client feels comfortable, and all the social niceties that go into the role.  

However, having a successful sales career involves a lot of behind-the-scenes work. Organization plays a big role. You need to manage relationships, keep track of deadlines, remember details of particular orders and specific clients, and generally juggle multiple tasks at once.  

As you start off in sales, work to improve your organizational skills. They might not represent the flashiest part of the job, but they will provide a reasonable basis for success. 

Build Your Network  

Cultivating a strong professional network is important for any profession. However, it has particular importance in the realm of sales. By developing a broad network, you open the door for more lucrative positions down the road. Meanwhile, you also build up a group of long-term clients, who can follow you as you climb the ladder in your industry. 

Stay In Touch with Customers  

This is an extension of the networking strategy. While you build up your web of professional contacts, don’t stop at coworkers and supervisors. Also strengthen connections with your best customers.  

You never know what opportunities these important contacts can provide. They may become repeat customers when you get a gig at another business. Or, down the line, they could become potential employers.  

Learn as Much as You Can 

Sales is the art of convincing other people. You need to able to express the value proposition you are offering. These arguments require information. You have to know what you are selling and how it can help customers. You also have to know the individual clients you are working with. This will help you best meet their needs. 

Work on Your Communication Skills 

There is another side to crafting a convincing argument. Besides having an impressive knowledge of your products and of your customers, you need to be able to communicate that information to an audience.  

As such, it’s crucial to develop strong communication skills. You need to improve your writing chops and perfect your ability to make an effective presentation. 

Nurturing the right skill set will set the stage for long-term career success. When you’re starting out, it’s also important to earn the right experience, working for exciting, dynamic companies. Teaming with a top-ranked staffing agency, like SmartTalent, can help.  

Contact SmartTalent today to find out how they can place you in the best sales position to jumpstart your career.