Simple Tips to Get Ahead in Sales

Even if you don’t have experience in sales, there are many traits that can set you above your competition. Put yourself in the shoes of your employer, think about their process for hiring a sales candidate. Remember that the sales team is one of the most important departments within any company. When employers are looking for a new member of the sales team they are not only looking for experience, they are looking for a dedicated responsible individual they can depend on.

In order to best paint the picture of how important the hiring of a sales employee is, here are some facts. In any type of business organization, the process of recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and training job candidates entails substantial costs in time, money, and effort. A study conducted by CareerBuilder survey approximates the average cost of one bad hire costs companies $15,000. Consider all the things that go into making the wrong choice in the hiring process such as: reduced productivity, lost time to hire and train more deserving candidates, tarnished output quality, and spikes in customer attrition rate.

Now here’s where a lack of experience isn’t such a bad thing. Often times bad hires are simply people who aren’t fit for the job emotionally. Emotionally unfit hires usually have a dramatic effect on the morale of other employees. This can cause a decrease in standards, timeline efficiency, and an overall inability to meet goals. The last thing any employer wants is to have to go through the hiring process all over again after taking a hit in revenue and moral within the company.

Despite the immense costs of bad hires sometimes they still slip through the cracks. Here are some of the reasons why this problem exists in the first place.

Most people don’t appreciate how important sales is to a business. People just wily nily apply for sales positions thinking of it as just a way to get a pay check.
Not everybody is meant to be a salesperson. The industry requires a certain type of individual which we will discuss below.
Sales-related certifications exist but are not taken advantage of by prospective employees or their employers.

People who lack sales experience and want to get started in the industry must do whatever they can to gain an advantage over other experienced candidates. Here are some quick tips on how to achieve that advantage:

1) Show Motivation

You must show a pure and true desire to take the position being offered. Like we talked about above, one of the biggest red flags for any new hire is somebody who’s just looking for a paycheck. This mentality is what can drain and even destroy a business. You must go above and beyond to show that you are ready and willing to take on all of the responsibility that entails keeping a business alive and well.

2) Do Your Homework

Before the interview, learn everything

you can about the company. Keep in mind that the person hiring you has been living and breathing their work for years. If you walk in and already have a firm grasp of everything the company is about, then it will be much easier for the person interviewing you to see you as part of the team. Additionally, it helps to show them how motivated you are for this particular position.

3) Know the Basics

Selling techniques and advanced methodologies can be learned way before the hiring process even begins. You don’t need actual job experience to understand the fundamentals of the sales process. With the advent of the internet, thousands of hours of educational information has been published, much of it for free. Know who the best salespeople of all time were. Know the greatest deals ever made and how they were made. Show your employer that you are a salesperson even though it doesn’t say so on a piece of paper.

Moreover, avoid candidates who can’t seem to listen and those who ask senseless questions. Blacklist anyone who doesn’t ask any question at all. Selling is a conversation and active listening and asking the right questions are key to successful customer engagement.

4) Be Professional

Proofread everything you send to your employer. Make sure you look in the mirror and make yourself look as best as possible. It may seem shallow, but you want to make a great first impression when you finally meet a potential employer face to face. Clean up your social media. A serious employer can easily search your name in Facebook to see if you are a wild and crazy party animal. Any embarrassing posts or inflamed political debates can turn an employer off. Arrive at your interview on time and respond to communications quickly. A punctual diligent person shows motivation and ambition which is exactly what employers are looking for.

Conclusion

All of this may seem like basic common sense but you would be surprised how many people, even experienced salespeople, make these mistakes. Set yourself apart from the pact the best you can by being the most reliable, motivated, and diligent person they have ever experienced.