Why sales as a career

Call it competition, assertiveness or an overall sense of urgency, most salespeople who see great success in their field have an insatiable drive to do well. If you want to sell successfully, Schultz adds, you have to be willing to disrupt. Traits like persuasion and a competitive nature may be top of mind when most people think about succeeding in sales, but a successful salesperson also has a certain mastery of soft skills like teamwork, empathy and effective communication—all skills that enable one to work in harmony with those around them.

Finally, successful salespeople are not those who shy away from conceptual thinking. While it seems many inherently possess many of the skills that could make them successful salespeople, some formal education can certainly help polish those skill sets and open the door to the first few stepping stones to a long, lucrative career.

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You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information, check out our privacy policy. Written by Katrina Kirsch. If you hear "ABC" and "Always be closing" pops into your mind, a sales career may be the perfect match for you.

But if you're thinking "Huh? What does that mean? You've come to the right place to learn what it's like to have a career in sales, and it's about much more than the close. Sales seems like a fast-paced, hardball kind of career. That can be true. There's the hustle to find leads, the hundreds of calls, and the high of delivering a flawless pitch.

But it's also about relationships, follow-through, communication, analytics, and patience. So how do the two connect? What's a typical sales career path? How do you get started in sales? Is the sales job market strong enough to support a career? This guide will answer all of those questions and more. By the end, you'll know what skills can help you break into sales, what jobs are available, and whether or not sales is a good career for you.

As the saying goes, "Time kills all deals. Sales spans every business and every industry. Small businesses need salespeople, as do massive enterprise companies. There are a variety of roles and responsibilities that fall within sales, but the core of all sales careers are the same.

Salespeople are responsible for selling products or services that meet customer needs. People in sales identify prospective customers, establish trust, nurture prospects through the company's sales funnel, provide information on offerings, and bring in new customers by convincing people to make a purchase.

Choosing a career path in sales depends on your experience, company, and industry. Here's a look at a common path you can take, from beginner rep to established executive. Sales development reps also known as business development reps, or BDRs are responsible for the first step in the sales funnel: bringing in qualified leads.

They conduct research to find prospective customers, reach out to gauge people's interest in the offering, and decide whether or not the lead is ready to move down the funnel. Due to the role's responsibilities, the best SDRs have strong interpersonal communication and organizational skills, understand the ins and outs of the products or services, and make a lasting impression.

Once the SDR has determined the prospect is ready to be contacted by the sales team, they send the person over to a closing rep. This process means SDRs typically aren't held to traditional quotas but to the number of calls they make or qualified leads they gather. Depending on the company, the compensation for an SDR can be a base salary, commission-based, or a combination of base plus commission. Image Source. An SDR role is right for you if you're looking to start your sales career and don't have much experience.

You'll gain skills researching and calling prospects, sending emails, understanding the offerings, and organizing leads. Once you're crushing the numbers, you'll be ready for that promotion. In an increasingly digital world, inside salespeople are the go-to for prospecting, nurturing, and converting leads remotely.

They rely on email, phone calls, videos, and virtual meetings—instead of face-to-face interaction—to build relationships and move people through the sales funnel. Inside sales reps need a number of skills to land clients from afar.

These include good verbal and written communication skills, the ability to cold-call prospects, and a deep understanding of the products or services offered. It's important for this role to educate prospects and follow up once a sale is closed to maintain customer satisfaction and encourage repeat buyers.

As a result, inside sales reps typically have a hybrid compensation package that includes a base salary and commission. Similar to SDRs, inside sales reps roles are a great launch point for a sales career. The path to a promotion is clear, and you'll gain the skills you need to level up to a managerial position.

Most people in the role have under four years of experience, but depending on the company, can also include people with five to 20 years of experience. If you imagine jet-setting to new locations to pitch prospective clients, an outside sales rep role could be the career for you.

People in this position typically spend their time traveling from place to place to give demos, attend conferences, and meet with buyers. For the same reasons that inside sales reps roles are growing, outside sales reps now often rely on technology to land customers.

Nearly half of their time is spent selling remotely i. Since travel can be part of this role, you can expect a larger compensation package. Just consider the time and energy it takes to be on the move—a taxing situation if you're not ready to constantly pack your bags. When considering an outside sales rep role, make sure to research the industry and company before jumping into this sales career.

It's good to check how much travel is involved, what technology you'll have access to, and what performance metrics you'll be evaluated against. Keep in mind that the majority of people in this position have several years of experience since they often have to work independently and excel at time management.

If autonomy is your thing, this role may be right for you. Building and maintaining customer relationships is essential to growing a business.

This is where account managers come in. People in this role work with customers after the first purchase and act as the point person on behalf of their company for customers. They're responsible for maintaining relationships, understanding customers' needs, acting as advocates for clients, and staying up-to-date on industry trends to create long-term sales strategies.

Account managers are evaluated on customer retention and satisfaction metrics. Their main goal is to help customers increase the ROI on a purchase, so they'll often connect with a salesperson if an opportunity to cross-sell or upsell arises. Some companies offer account managers a base salary, while others include commission sharing for the clients you help nudge to a sale.

In , the average base salary for an account manager. If you're considering a sales career, an account manager role is ideal if you enjoy building lasting relationships. You'll have to gain customer's trust, understand their industry, and help them achieve their goals. As the internal go-to, you'll have direct access to customers and work to maintain those relationships over time.

Once you have some experience in sales, an account executive position is a natural next step. Furthermore, depending on your role, you may need to brush up on how to correctly prioritize your opportunities, balance your sales pipeline, or manage your time. Managers may need to revisit how to reinforce their systems during their regular weekly team meetings and individual one-on-ones as well as how to develop a strong sales culture, forecast more accurately, and strategize sales more effectively.

Even when I speak with some of the most seasoned salespeople, who have great interpersonal and relationship building skills, they still find that training strengthens and fine-tunes those skills even more. In fact, CSO Insights research analyst spoke with a variety of business managers, trainers, executives, marketers, technical specialists, and college professors and found they came from backgrounds in sales and are quick to acknowledge the skills acquired in their sales roles.

This may be of particular interest to recent college grads, young professionals, or career changers who have a dream job in mind but, lacking work experience, have not been able to find an entry point. Creativity - This is your ability to think differently, to find new ways to solve old problems.

Companies are most interested in finding people who can think of new, better solutions. This is particularly useful in the workplace because you constantly need to communicate your ideas to others in a way that compels them to change or move in your direction.

As a salesperson, this is the lifeblood of your sales pitch. Collaboration - Your ability to work with others is a key skill needed to succeed in both your professional and personal life. Being an effective team player who can help coordinate and organize people while being transparent and respectful is a critical component to a productive workplace. Selling requires collaborating with clients, customers, prospects, and your teammates all the time.

Adaptability - Your flexibility and openness to changing environments and expectations will make you a valuable member of any company.

With new processes and technologies popping up all the time, being adaptable is critical to staying relevant and competitive in business — and especially in sales. Time Management - People with this soft skill have the necessary discipline to tune out distractions, meet deadlines, and get the most out of their workday. Conflict Management - This is your ability to handle conflicts in a respectful, optimistic way.

Sales is competitive by nature, which often leads to conflicts over territory or account ownership. This skill will help you rise above these things. Fortunately, stress is something you can influence through understanding what triggers it, how to manage it effectively, and by recognizing unhelpful habits and adopting more useful ones. Sales can be stressful , but learning techniques to tame the stress will help you in all areas of your life.

Customer Service - This skill is all about your ability to communicate, both verbally and non-verbally. All of these elements are essential in sales because selling is having a conversation. Emotional Intelligence EQ - This is the ability of an individual to understand his or her own emotions and the emotions of others.

Storytelling - This is a powerful skill that can help you improve your presentation skills , professional networking, and interviewing abilities, as well as your overall communication skills. Stories stimulate imagination and passion and create a sense of community among listeners and tellers alike. In sales, the introduction of data and technology has introduced a great opportunity. You can now leverage data to create an even more compelling success story so you can win more clients and establish yourself as a thought leader in the business.

Knowing that your efforts beat out your competition and helped your customer solve a business issue can be even more rewarding than the income earned. While the emotional rewards range drastically from sales job to sales job, the thrill of your victories, the income rewards, the flexibility associated with sales, and the fact that you are creating and securing employment for others makes choosing a career in sales a very attractive option worth considering.

Sales has changed. The world of selling now requires a completely different mentality and skill set. Ultimately, leading to your personal and professional success. Pro Virtual Selling Course. Pro Course: Learn how to close more deals in a video-first, virtual workplace In this course, you will learn: How to use video through different stages of the sales process How to use video to improve engagement and increase revenue.

How to measure your success with virtual selling. Start Course. Steve Bookbinder also recommends this free course: Fundamentals of Virtual Selling. Regardless of your age or stage of life, being a sales professional is an excellent career path. But it gets a bad rap.