Who here is in sales?

bmodzelewski · Sep 16, 2015

AJRB said:
20+ years in sales.....short and sweet....its all about confidence and product knowledge.

I still question if sales is what I will be doing 20+ years from now?

Why do you feel like you need to jump ship from Graphic design? Sounds like something you could do late into life, opposed to a sales gig.

I believe you about the confidence and product knowledge.

After about 10 years of design I'm starting to feel like it's not for me anymore - I'm just burned out and not really excited about it anymore... And it's not exactly the greatest pay so it's not like I even feel like putting up with it just to collect a check. I work for a smaller firm and do not even have a desire to switch companies or do this on my own... the next step would be a career change.

snavematt · Sep 17, 2015

bmodzelewski said:
I believe you about the confidence and product knowledge.

After about 10 years of design I'm starting to feel like it's not for me anymore - I'm just burned out and not really excited about it anymore... And it's not exactly the greatest pay so it's not like I even feel like putting up with it just to collect a check. I work for a smaller firm and do not even have a desire to switch companies or do this on my own... the next step would be a career change.

You have no idea about being tired or stressed till you aren't hitting your numbers, and you are getting your ass handed to you in your weekly sales meeting (in front of other people).
Also remember coffee is for closers.

good guy 176 · Sep 17, 2015

ccarson said:
40 years sales experience
A sales position requires a multitude of skills and some positions require more of one than another. 3 to bear in mind
1) Lead Generation - who supplies the leads? If it is you then you will need to be very disciplined, motivated, patient and be able to handle rejection. It's a numbers game and you will need to be persistent. In my experience, this is the area most sales people fail! If you are sales focused lead generation is often a painful experience.
2) Closing skills - if you have a lead can you close the sale and do it efficiently and often! What most people think of when they think of a sales job. Every sales position has a different method for closing.
3) Customer Service - Do you also have the skillset to maintain relationship and service your clients? You need to have a bit of the servant mentality.

Well said. I sold residential real estate in Maryland for 15 years (1985-2000) and was successful and I found the career rewarding, with Century 21 and Re/Max, BUT without my military retirement income and my wife working simultaneously, I might not have lasted that long.

There were peaks and valleys income wise, and the job required working long hours, evenings and weekends. And, with the average price of a property around $130,000 (from $44,000 to $425,000), the commissions were good, but not as lucrative. as they are today. It took more work to sell a $44K condo that it did a new home at $425K.

Lew--Ranger63

TyFromMD · Sep 17, 2015

I'm in sales.
I sell credit card processing services and technology to small and medium sized businesses.
Lot of driving in my outside sales position.

To be successful:
1) work long hours
2) ask for referral business
3) don't screw anyone over because they'll tell everyone. Business owners know business owners.
4) don't try to sell your friends
5) someone else will always be cheaper. Don't focus on price, focus on value. Not all processors are the same.

Challenges:
1) the industry in general has a bad reputation and rightly so. There are a lot of shady people and comapnies out there.
2) there are literally thousands of competitors out there

johnnyb2 · Sep 17, 2015

SALES

Billman said:
In my experience, when it gets very good. The numbers get adjusted, deal changes, commission rate, territory, car allowance, etc. It's happened to me personally and very common in the commission sales business.

Hahahaha Really, although I am out of it now, sales, for me, was the only occupation over a 30 year span that I knew that, the MORE MONEY YOU made for your BOSS, the greater the likelihood of a PAY CUT!! :lol:

No other occupation did I ever see this happen...and Im sure somewhere there is, but, not like I had experienced...hahahaha :thumbsup:

Don't take this as a big negative, because to reach the level where your pay plan gets cut, well....you should be doing ok :-) But it is a long, tiring and can be...rewarding path, with a lot of good/excellent information on these pages. Good luck and remember, if you can do what you love every day, well, you can't call that work!! :-)

Who here is in sales?

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