[godfather dust]

I'm interested in getting into sales because, quite frankly, I have fucked up career wise. At 27 I still work shitty jobs. From what I understand sales doesn't require a degree or certificate, you just have to be good.

I'm reading the book Influence by Robert Cialdini (thanks Roosh, I'll have to read these other books http://www.rooshv.com/10-books-every-man-should-read) and studying Jordan Belfort's Straight Line Persuasion course.

Can anyone in sales give me some pointers?

[TheFinalEpic]

Apply for a sales position, kill the interview, and then start killing the sales, all that I know my man. Life is sales, you're always selling yourself.

[A_CLizzy]

ALWAYS BE CLOSING!

[Biz]

Real Estate is a good start.

You can probably get a good idea if sales is for you by working in Real Estate. 100% commission, 100% hustle.

The higher end sales positions (medical equipment and pharmaceutical sales) do require a good degree and plenty of experience.

[Saweeep]

Low end sales positions are always churning through new staff as most haven't got what it takes.

As a result of this, these positions are always up for grabs for anyone.

At the end of the day, if you can't hustle your way into a low end sales job you probably haven't got the aptitude for it anyway.

[TonyD]

I can chime in from a real estate background. You eat what you kill, so you need to be motivated and organized. I spend two hours per day on prospecting. I hate knocking on doors so I work the phone. Over time I have compiled a database of contacts, starting with everyone I knew (sphere of influence), and adding to the database by building new relationships over the years. I keep in regular contact with my database, while adding new contacts through cold calling. Just like game, the more calls (approaches) you make, the tighter your game becomes, and the higher your close rate will be.

Get used to hearing the word "no". Learn to love it. People will curse at you, they will hang up on you, etc., but that only gets you closer to your goal. You need to be hungry for it every day.

I make 50 cold calls per week (small number). If I work 50 weeks per year, that means I will make 2,500 calls/year. If I can convert some of those calls into closed deals, and make, say $100K in a year, then that means every phone call I made was worth $40. This is what motivates me to work the phone.

[ColSpanker]

Agree with how low end sales positions chewing through the recruits. Careful about getting into a commission/draw arrangement as you can end up owing the company money. Companies tend to be more flexible with commission only jobs, but you had better have a big nest egg to fall back upon. Make sure you get in writing about whose sale belongs to who (having some issues with my current job over that one). The day of the fast-talking smooth cigar-chewing salesman is largely over thanks to the Internet, but you still need to be charming.
And those jobs you see under "Sales" on Craig's List: 75% are scams.

[ColSpanker]

(12-16-2014 07:36 PM)TonyD Wrote:  

I can chime in from a real estate background. You eat what you kill, so you need to be motivated and organized. I spend two hours per day on prospecting. I hate knocking on doors so I work the phone. Over time I have compiled a database of contacts, starting with everyone I knew (sphere of influence), and adding to the database by building new relationships over the years. I keep in regular contact with my database, while adding new contacts through cold calling. Just like game, the more calls (approaches) you make, the tighter your game becomes, and the higher your close rate will be.

Get used to hearing the word "no". Learn to love it. People will curse at you, they will hang up on you, etc., but that only gets you closer to your goal. You need to be hungry for it every day.

I make 50 cold calls per week (small number). If I work 50 weeks per year, that means I will make 2,500 calls/year. If I can convert some of those calls into closed deals, and make, say $100K in a year, then that means every phone call I made was worth $40. This is what motivates me to work the phone.

Just 50 a week? Christ, I routinely make 40 a day and have hit 80 (gruesome experience).
I need to get into a better line of work. Don't you need a license to sell real estate?

[Cattle Rustler]

Also, don't fall for anything that requires you to pay money.

Most of the time it's disguised as "fee for a background check" or "to keep your website running"

[monster]

RE requires a license (time and money) and connections to work for a reputable agency. Although its a possibility with a lot of upside I'm not sure it's the best place to get started in sales.

Anyway, sales is such a huge field that there's no one right place. OP has to narrow it down: does he want to do retail sales? business-to-business sales? is he inspired by the glamour of the movies Wall Street or Glengarry Glenn Ross (because sales is NOT that exciting as portrayed in the movies, it's mostly a lot of complete nonexcitement)? We need more specifics.

[TonyD]

(12-16-2014 08:06 PM)ColSpanker Wrote:  

(12-16-2014 07:36 PM)TonyD Wrote:  

I can chime in from a real estate background. You eat what you kill, so you need to be motivated and organized. I spend two hours per day on prospecting. I hate knocking on doors so I work the phone. Over time I have compiled a database of contacts, starting with everyone I knew (sphere of influence), and adding to the database by building new relationships over the years. I keep in regular contact with my database, while adding new contacts through cold calling. Just like game, the more calls (approaches) you make, the tighter your game becomes, and the higher your close rate will be.

Get used to hearing the word "no". Learn to love it. People will curse at you, they will hang up on you, etc., but that only gets you closer to your goal. You need to be hungry for it every day.

I make 50 cold calls per week (small number). If I work 50 weeks per year, that means I will make 2,500 calls/year. If I can convert some of those calls into closed deals, and make, say $100K in a year, then that means every phone call I made was worth $40. This is what motivates me to work the phone.

Just 50 a week? Christ, I routinely make 40 a day and have hit 80 (gruesome experience).
I need to get into a better line of work. Don't you need a license to sell real estate?

50/Week is what works for me. 40/day? I tip my hat to you, that is not easy work to accomplish daily.

I am a licensed broker. Typically you do need a license to sell, although not always. New Home Sales, for instance, does not require a license (at least where I am from).

[Sonoma]

I did car sales. You get chewed up, fucked over and don't make much. However, you do learn a ton and they pay a bare minimum liveable wage (my draw was 2000)

It's a shady enterprise but the experience was worth it. Pretty low entry to start, just kill the interview

[monster]

(12-16-2014 09:18 PM)Sonoma Wrote:  

I did car sales. You get chewed up, fucked over and don't make much. However, you do learn a ton and they pay a bare minimum liveable wage (my draw was 2000)

It's a shady enterprise but the experience was worth it. Pretty low entry to start, just kill the interview

What made it so shady?

[ColSpanker]

I should be more specific on the cold calls. I do 40 approaches a day, most of which go nowhere. They might consist of walking into a store, looking around, deciding it isn't worth my time and leaving. Or I might just leave a card (this I do if the proprietor is English-challenged; no reason to spend an hour trying to explain what it is we do). I don't make a pitch in half of them.
I have heard car dealers routinely cull the bottom performer each month. Sounds like a horrible way to make a living.