I’ve posted about job trouble in the past. My problem, high in education (master’s degree) but low in experience.
Recently a few people have recommended that I should go into sales. Would this be a good idea? I know there are low paying sales jobs, and high paying ones. I obviously need a high paying one (I owe $65,000 in student loans). Is there any chance I can find myself a higher paying sales job at the entry level? If so, what kind of sales should I pursue?
I don’t know if this is relavent or not…I have been a receptionist for a year now, and no, my master’s nor my bachelor degree was not in business.
I could be wrong, but my impression is that people who make good money in sales do so because they are paid a salary plus commission. I doubt that an untried sales person will be offered a hefty salary to start, but if you indeed have an affinity for sales, you might well be able to hit the income figure you need.
In my job, I’ve worked with lots of sales people in printing and advertising. I’d be surprised if more than a few have business degrees. The good ones earn my loyalty and business because it’s clear to me that they are working to meet my needs. The bad ones make it clear to me that they are working to meet their sales goals.
There seems to be a lot of turnover in sales, so I don’t think it would hurt you at all to try it and decide it’s not for you.
What type of expertise do you have and what do you consider to be “high paying”? Sales is both a psychological and appearance game and can be very competitive and you have to be prepared to whore yourself out (no matter what the gender). My ex-wife is an excecutive vice president of sales and world-class expert in the highest end cheeses and other gourmet foods in the world and generally hires very attractive females with high-end college degrees with a fascination with the industry and international travel in general. It can pay well into the 6 figures USD. Medical industry sales are similar. High-end car dealers can make a lot of money but the hours can be very severe and inconsistent with a family life. A used car dealer may only make a tiny fraction of that.
What’s your degree in? I think it’s easier to get a sales job if you have the appropriate background (pharmacy or other science degree if you want to be a drug rep, electrical engineering degree if you want to rep electronic components, etc.)
I don’t know about in general, but in the electronic component industry, we’ve gone through a couple of years of layoffs now. There are very few openings, and most of those that I know of go to people with industry experience.Now, if things turn around rapidly, there is a good chance that there will be sales openings, as people who were laid off have moved on to other things.
But I really wouldn’t expect that 6 figure number mentioned above. If it was that easy to find/get/keep jobs like that, with no experience and not knowing people, we would all be doing that. Even when top sellers retire/leave/ get laid off, those accounts aren’t going to go to the new kid on the block. They will go to the proven salesperson. The new kid is going to get the small accounts, the pain-in-the-ass accounts, or the we-don’t-sell-to-them accounts, and be told to learn the ropes and grow the business.
I have a salesperson I deal with fairly often. He is on full commission, which means his entire salary is commissions he earns - no sales, no income. I gather that he was offered the option of foregoing a salary some years ago - getting a higher commission in return.
I couldn’t live under such an arrangement, but he is happy with it, although business is a bit slow at the moment.
Having dealt with quite a few salescritters over the years, I have a theory that a good salesperson is born, not made. That is, that the personality traits which make a good salesperson are inherent in a person’s psychological makeup. If you can sell, you can sell anything. If you can’t sell, you can learn it to some extent, but you’ll never be great at it.
My friend’s father was a salesman. After going to college and working for a couple of years in the field he thought he’d wanted, he was offered a sales position. He told his father that, surprise, surprise, he was going into sales. His dad looked at him and said, “You’ve been selling all your life.” Clearly he was a chip off the old block.
My friend has the sales personality, and I’d probably go nuts if I had to deal with him daily. But, when I need sales info on a product, he is right there with everything I need. He knows my operation well enough to be able to anticipate our requirements and foresee issues that we need to watch out for. I do think this capacity is built into him.
Sales people depend on bonuses or commissions and they can make a good deal.
But you have to know how the bonus system works.
For instance, I worked extensively with Starwood Hotels and the bonus systems for their managers. Starwood had a VERY and I mean VERY complex system to get money. But you know what, I knew sales people that made three times their salary in bonuses alone.
Some sales people would be so frustrated by the complex nature, but others would say “Mark, what do I need to do to make money.” Then I’d tell them, how it worked and WHY it was like that. And those who listened made money.
I always felt bad for sales people at other hotels I wasn’t working with, 'cause they did so much worse, because no one explained HOW to make money.
So yes, you can make a great deal of money, but you definately have to have a pesonality for it and you have to understand the rules of bonuses and commissions.
For instance one of the most complicated rules Starwood had was you are paid for days worked. Vacation time, sick time, grief days, holidays and so forth you get paid for, but are not days worked. So in the calculation you subtract that out
You know how hard it was for me to explain to a manager who had been with Starwood for 20 years and 40+ days off a year. (Starwood had a tier system so those who worked for Westin, which had great time off, kept their benefits that new hires to Starwood didn’t get)