Things to Consider When Choosing a Career in Sales

If you have ever been told that you would be a good salesperson, you have likely thought of whether or not you would enjoy selling as a career. You may have heard of the substantial rewards that await a successful salesperson and pondered with envy the earning potential of a salesperson. You may have also wondered worryingly about rejection and an unpredictable income stream. All of those concerns are perfectly relevant, but if you are seriously considering choosing a career in sales, you might want to consider the real life of a sales professional before making your decision.

A career in sales requires more than talking to people. Many salespeople spend a great deal of time talking with clients and potential clients, and while the untrained eye may view it as mere chit-chat, a professional salesperson sees it as much more. Each sentence said by and to a sales person has value. The greeting a salesperson delivers has purpose...as much purpose as the response he or she receives. A career in sales will require you to pay close attention to your body language and the body language of thee person to whom you are trying to sell. After time, the practice of observation becomes second-nature to experienced salespeople, but the observation continues incessantly.

Selling is conveying ideas and emotion. In order to become a successful sales professional, you have to be willing and able to project your ideas and analyze the ideas and emotions coming from your prospect. The words you choose have to be in keeping with the idea and emotion you are attempting to project. Sounds exhausting, doesn’t it? Here’s how it works:

Let’s say you are selling BMW cars and a person walks onto the lot and stares at the latest sedan from 10 feet away. What is she thinking? What if a different person walks to the same sedan and stares at the sticker, what are they thinking? It’s hard to be certain, but a seasoned sales professional might assume that the person marveling at the vehicle’s profile is enamored with the look of the car and is perhaps visualizing what it would look like in their driveway. The person staring at the sticker is likely fretting over the cost or the features or even the fuel mileage. The reason these observations matter is that a salesperson does himself or herself a disservice by trying to sell a person occupied by cost, with the looks of the car. Sure, the look of a BMW will certainly play a role in securing the sale, but the person staring at the sticker has likely already approved of the styling and requires more justification to buy the car.

In either case, a good salesman will not determine their entire angle based on the first glance but that first impression factors in their approach; a calculated and practiced approach for success.

A career in sales can be rewarding and challenging but it is always work. If you are willing to learn the fundamentals of salesmanship and apply them without fail, you can enjoy a prosperous career selling anything you choose.