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Digital Presence & Marketing Strategy

Everyone should have at least one sales job in their life – Part 2

Maybe I need to be a bit more controversial to get more response on the Everyone needs a sales job post! Or maybe, just maybe, the majority of you have to agree that EVERYONE should have at least one (or more) sales job(s) in their lifetime. Here’s a bit more about my background in sales:

My first year out of college I got a sales job with a great company in Utah. It was all based on commission, had a really tough learning curve, and was definitely “not for everyone” as I heard many times in the first 6 weeks. Looking back, I’m not sure if this was a hint that I should look elsewhere or what. However, this sales job literally changed my life. I can honestly say that I learned more in 2 1/2 years of sales training than I learned in my entire college education. College is great – however, the perspective I gained from this job was amazing. I learned about the power of mindset, motivation, positive attitude, and not being satisfied with mediocrity. I had a team leader who believed in his team: he was never negative, never pessimistic, and always gave me encouragement and positive reinforcement.

One of the things I did that I believe helped me really meet my potential at this job was the “Moller Mission Statement“. It went something like this:

“I am the best salesman at [put in your company name] with a 6 week average of over [specific amount of money] in sales. I am making [specific amount of money] per week which is helping me achieve and exceed my six month goal of [specific amount of money] by June 30, [year] and [specific amount of money] by Dec. 31, [year]. My keys to success have been confidence, focus, overcoming all fears, hard work, persistence, patience, and expecting to succeed, along with listening to the best, taking effective notes which I apply immediately, setting specific goals that I review daily, and focusing on getting 3 new sales per day, clients that need the products we are offering. I never worry about things I can’t change. I focus only on what I do have control over: attitude, knowledge, skills and work ethic. I’m happy to be running my business successfully and will continue to develop multiple streams of income. These multiple streams of income will help me achieve my life goal: [specific long term goal].

As I created this Moller Mission Statement and began believing in it, I saw amazing things happen. Sales increased, my attitude changed, and I really did do what I was saying. The funniest part was that I hit my year goal almost to the dollar, a goal that, at first, I almost thought was out of reach.

So, in summary, Everyone needs a sales job!

24 replies on “Everyone should have at least one sales job in their life – Part 2”

i believe that anybody can do what they set their mind to do as i have in the past and never failed; I am a very aggresive person who can get from point a to b when he has too! To move forward and to get to the next level you have to know what you are doing first and know were you stand in order to move forward. You can’t just try to figure out what you have to do next on your own, especially when time is limited. You also need to get the answers when you need them to move foward, instead of people telling you to try this and try that to see if it works. Certain things have to be set in place in order to move foward and to be able say to yourself this is where I stand and now this is the next thing I have to do. When it comes time to move forward some people wonder why it’s not done yet! When a person is working on accomplishing a certain task to achieve a certain goal they should not have to go back to what he or she has done in the past in order move forward to the next level. Unless a serious change has to be made and that should not be too often. If you do you will never be able to move forward to achive the goals you set.

As some of you read this post, I want you to think how it can relate to you. I don’t necessarily mean that you have to be “Sales People!” That’d be awful, right? Wrong! If you are building a business or considering building a business, you will have to “sell” YOURSELF and your ideas over and over and over again.

The other day we had a “sales rep” come to our company to “sell” us on why we should use and promote their product. They had absolutely NO excitement, NO confidence, and were flat out boring. After they left, one of my colleagues commented: “Why would we want to use and promote what they offer? They don’t even believe in it!”

The above post is mostly about the importance of POSITIVE MINDSET!!

“If you think you can, or you think you can’t – YOU’RE RIGHT!”

Yeah, you’re right, everyone needs a sales job. I think that the reason most people don’t get one is because they don’t like the learning curve. But it will teach you pretty much anything you need for business. People skills, determination. I wonder if there is a way to do it without the work?

Everyone is involved in selling whether you are trying to get you wife or girl friend to do something you want, or getting a clerk in a store to give you some special deal or treatment, or convincing your boss to give you a raise. Selling is nothing more than persuasion. Selling has gotten a bad rap over the years. Probably because so many fast talking sales guys mislead and even lie to customers. But just look around the room where you are now. Everything you see was sold by someone to someone. Nothing happens until a sale is made. Selling can be an honorable profession is it is done right. In fact today most selling is based on building relationships with customers and doing what is best for them, even if you loose a sale. So try paying attention to the many times you try to persuade people to do something. You will find you do it many times every day.

I have a firm belief that everyone, at some point in their lives is a salesperson. Some people make a living doing it, and some do it without even knowing it. In order to get a job, you have to sell yourself to your prospective employer. If they believe in what you have to offer them, you will get the job, if not than you did not sell yourself, or believe in yourself enough. To become successful at virtually anything in life, you need to have confidence in what you’re doing. If you don’t believe in it, then why would anyone else?

Over the past few months I have become more of a salesman everyday. Not because I wanted to be a salesman, but because I need to if I want to succeed at business. I do, however believe in the products that I sell, (I actually use them) so when I talk to a customer I know all about what they want to buy and have used it at some point in the past. Just as Nate said, if someone is trying to sell you something, but doesn’t know anything about it or doesn’t believe in it, why should you? I totally agree with “Everyone should have at least one sales job in their life” as stated above, if you don’t then you won’t get too far.

Most people do not even consider being a salesperson; they shy away from those types of jobs. I never actually considered being a sales person but now that I have thought about it, we are all sales people. Realizing that there are so many ways that people sell (themselves, their opinions, their beliefs) sheds a whole new light on “SELLING”. It is not an act of cramming something down a person’s throat, it is believing in what you are trying to sell to the point that your consumer will believe in it, too.

Reiterating some of the posted replies, I now know you must believe in the products you decide to sell before you put time and effort into trying to sell them. If you don’t, you might as well not try. The specific goal setting really hit home. I have dreams and usually state them as my goals. I don’t write them down, which would make them definite goals, nor do I give them a date to be accomplished. Oh, I have, on occasion, written down what I want, but in general, not specific. If I meet the goal, great; if I don’t, well that is the breaks. This is a terrible way to go through life. How can we measure our successes and/or failures if we don’t even know what our goals really are, when we expect to meet them, and, most importantly, HOW are we going to meet them.

I grew up selling. My father owned a gas station and import business; I enjoyed every second of it and I would do it all over again if I had to, but in fact you have to know where you stand and more importantly, where you are going. With these two things in mind and the proper organizing tools you shouldn’t have to look back.

[…] As I read Rob Schaumer’s Blog about goal setting, I thought a lot about clients I currently work with: they all want to make changes, see results, and succeed.  The one’s that see the most success all have one major thing in common – “[they] never worry about [what they] can’t change, [they] labor only on what [they] do have control of: attitude, knowledge, skills, and work ethic.” (Moller Mission Statement) […]

I believe that when you want something to happen in your life, you go out and start knocking on doors. To me, that looks like taking specific action steps towards my goals. What I have discovered is that even if those particular doors don’t open, others always do. So I might talk to someone about the business opportunity that I am involved in. And that person might not be interested. But the phone will ring later that day, and someone else has found out about my business and wants to know more. I believe that 2 other essential ingredients are gratitude, and excitement. I lie in bed of a morning, and get excited thinking about the growth in my business……and so it keeps growing. Thanks Nate for all your support.

Yes it is all in your belief system and I think selling forces you to confront yourself and ask reasons why you’re doing what you’re doing. It also shows you that it is so much easier when you are selling something you are passionate about. I think you have to really believe that you have what the other person wants and they have been waiting all their lives to meet you so they can buy what you are selling! After all it’s going to make their lives so much better isn’t it?

I totally agree that everyone should get a sales job based on comissions only. That’s exactly what I did 4 years ago. I decided to sell cars and trucks at a Ford dealership that had a week of sales training in place before I “hit” the floor. That experience was invalueable.
Having the right attitude and knowledge, having my daily, weekly and monthly goals written down was a requirement. Believing in the “product” was the key to my being excited in my presentation, and allowed me to follow the road to the sale quite easily. The team manager also knew my goals and was there to remind me, if I start to falter.
Nate, your mission statement is a perfect example of what I must do for myself. Now by shareing it with you, I will have that person to remind me of why I am doing this business, should I start to falter. I truely believe that having thre right attitude and knowledge combined with belief in myself and the product will allow me to be successful.

Mission statements help you focus and keep you on the right path to achieving your goals. As for the sales job, I believe that you gain so much knowledge about business practices, effective communication skills, time management, data analysis, target marketing and managing a budget. If you can master the above you are on your way to becoming a successful business owner. Keep in mind that the right product, determination, perseverance, motivation and a positive attitude must accompany the above skill set.

Anything the human mind can conceive is possible, so if you want something , anything at all, and you believe in it, you will achieve it.
The mission statement will remind you of what you’re after, being that way part of the foundation of your business. I will start writting my own mission statement as I finish writting this.

Selling has literally changed my philosophy about life. I grew up thinking that life just happened. now i know that i can make what i want of it. Even though sometimes I like to endulge in making excused and blaming others, deep down i cant truly believe excusing myself. I know that i can make what i want out of life and it has all come from the experiences ive had working in a sales environment.

Great Article. I really beleive that if you can think it, you can achieve it. I beleive I can do it, and I believe that anyone that applies these principles can do it as well. Anyone can sell. Anyone can succeed. It is not limited to the talented few.

I sell myself in one way or another every day. Today I sell stuff on the internet. I don’t go face to face, but the time when I did taught valuable lessons I use today.

I have had three sales jobs in my lifetime. One in banking, another in Real Estate as a sales agent, and the third as an Escrow Officer handling business sale transactions. I learned to deal with many different ethnic backgrounds and it was a high Stress and challenging job which I enjoyed for thirteen years until I retired in 2003.
Sales is the art of using the Golden Rule when dealing with people. If you are knowledgeable and treat people the way you like to be treated then you have a win win situation for everyone concerned. I personally find pushy sales people to be a turn off and many times I will not go back to that particular store. The same is true when sales people ignore the clients in their store. I have come across both and I don’t deal with them at all. I have NO time for this type of individuals.

Growing up, I had my first sales job when I was 10 years old. I worked at my mom’s clothing store in California. I learned great lessons about work, and could really appreciate the dedication of salesmen! I then worked on a sales floor when I was 17 as a manager, and then after I was married to put my husband through school. I think everyone should at one point have a sales job. I think it teaches you to be strong and overcome obsticles. To be outgoing and to work closely with others. To see and face challenges. To achieve what you have set forth to do…and to (hopefully) see the big picture of what life will become…as long as you work towards it.

Your mission statement is an inspiration, Nate. Just reading your goals laid out with the terms for success help me to see that I can follow your example. Learning to maintain a positive outlook while accepting responsibility for only those areas that are in my control will be a challenge. Many times in the past, I focused on what I could not change. It was impossible to maintain a positive attitude. In my business, I want to keep the focus on the goals, practicing the steps required to achieve them.

I can see where you are coming from Nat, a positive outlook is important even when reviewing the mistakes we make (my words) because we can learn from them.

If one thing doesan’t work, then we can try another way until we hit on success, then we can replicate it. Why change something that works?

I know what I have got to do – start thinking of myself as a success and that will come across when I speak to people about my online business site I have.
I will be more convincing because I am positive, and as a result the advertising I must do will reflect that.

A positive attitude, belief in your product, belief in yourself and the willingness to go the extra mile for someone helps one’s attitude and sales.

Several days ago I had a client call me and ask if I could expedite her 24 candles so she could have them for the wedding. I wasn’t sure how to go about it or if our manufacturerer would have the candles packaged and ready to go.

I heard her frustration when she told me she had contacted multiple candle companies on the internet and no one helped her.

I told her that I would call my manufacturer, find out the necessary information, explained the procedures, asked for her phone number. I followed through. Long story short is I got the sale, the client is happy and she told me that she certainly appreciated my assistance. Upon closing the phone call, I asked her to remember me in the future and her statement made my day, “oh I certainly will. You went the extra mile for me when no one else would.”

Sales? I wasn’t even thinking about sales while talking to the woman. I heard her frustration and aggravation and made a decision to help her through it. By helping her, I made a sale and a friend.

Tobey Craft

I have been in sales all my life, starting as a Brownie selling Girl Scout cookies in front of grocery stores, through being a Real Estate Agent, Dry Cleaning Coupon salesperson door to door, and finally to being a govenment employee trying to convince (sell/persuade) people to get prepared for future disasters. In every case, I set very specific daily goals and VISUALIZED myself accomplishing those goals. I believe that it is a daily routine that can begin every morning with a writing out of the small measurable goals to be accomplished that day and evaluating the progress at the end of the day. I BELIEVED IN MYSELF AND FELT ANYTHING I THINK ABOUT, I CAN BRING ABOUT. It is like eating an elephant in small bites.
It is surprising how little daily course direction corrections can ultimately either arrive at a goal or completely miss the target. So, I value the little changes I can make along the way to achieve my goals.
I have also found that it is the QUESTION that I ask myself and my perspective customers that can make the difference. I have found that negative questions like, “Why did this happen to me?” usually illicits my mind giving me answers that are not uplifing like you are dumb or it is your fault, whereas questions like, “What positive learning did I get from this experience?” illicits answers to myself that provide opportunities to learn and progress. As a Brownie, I learned the simple question, “Would you like the Thin Mints or the Scotties” that lead me to a muliple sale, rather than asking, “Do you want to buy some cookies?” I always ask questions that lead me to what the cusomer wants through open-ended questions, never a yes or no answer. And of course a smile and enthusiasm were keys to making that sale.
Your mission statement reminded me to create one for my new e-business as I have in past careers and to go back to my tried and true tools I have used in my life. Thank you for your example.

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