Sales tips and advice from our live Q+A expert
In our live Q+A on a career in sales last week, our panel of experts answered your questions on getting a job in sales, improving your selling ability and enhancing your career.
In our live Q+A on a career in sales last week, our panel of experts answered your questions on getting a job in sales, improving your selling ability and enhancing your career.
Our experts, Dennis Kennedy of Active Sales Coaching and David Bromwich, Business Manager in Sales at Hays were on hand to pass on years of experience and advice in sales.
Here is a compilation of their best tips:
Why should you go into sales?
Both Dennis and David agreed that the potential to control how much you earn was a big factor.
David said: "I think the key attraction to the majority of people that move into sales is the earning potential.
The vast majority of positions reward employees with some form of bonus scheme in addition to a basic salary, so if you can sell – then you can afford yourself a very nice lifestyle."
However, they both said that other factors are also important – Dennis found real satisfaction in working with large and varied groups of people, while David said that the satisfaction of closing a deal and beating your competitors is hard to beat.
Being successful in Sales
When it came to the question of what makes a successful salesperson, both experts were in agreement that you need to be a good listener.
Dennis added that it was also important to be honest, have integrity and the ability to ask the right questions.
David said that you'll also need self-confidence, a thick-skin and the ability to work under pressure.
Most memorable experience
Matt asked the panel about their most memorable selling experiences. David said it was all about hitting targets – in particular, meeting one in his first month at a new company that others had been trying to hit for years.
It was also the big business deal that swung it for Dennis, his new order was the largest ever done at his company at the time, which he said came from really understanding his customers needs.
Long periods out of work
With our job-seeking blogger looking for advice on getting back into sales after long periods out, our experts were on hand to help.
Dennis suggested contacting decision makers early in the morning and late at night – they work long hours, he said, and might be more responsive than at busier times of the day.
Recruitment expert David Bromwich said that it was imperative for James to keep his motivation and not just look for jobs through adverts, but through networking and word of mouth as many sales positions are filled this way.
With so many sales professionals on social networking site LinkedIn, Todd Nash wondered how our experts used it for their work.
David said: "LinkedIn is my bible!
"If structured correctly, your Linkedin account can also give you real credibility and will open doors for you in terms of identifying key contacts and being up to date with market events."
Dennis also used it, but was a little more cautious and warned not to expect it to work overnight. He said that the main benefit of LinkedIn was to keep record of your own 'contact network.'
Photo by Jennifer Huber on Flickr
