The Best Career Background For A Great Sales Person

Sales are one of those jobs that really need the right sort of person. Sure, anyone can be a bad sales person, much like anyone can be a bad teacher or a bad waiter, but to be a really good one – which is surely what we’re all aiming for – takes a certain type of character.

If you are a quivering wall flower who has only ever worked with plants, launching yourself head first into a target driven, fast sales environment is going to be a crazy culture shock. But, that said, if you always found plants a little too quiet for your liking and you are craving a little bit of a challenge – why not?!

Born Not Made?

Most career advisors would say that the best sales people are born not made. Great sales people tend to have an in built ability for turning every situation into a money making scheme – of course, that can be really annoying if you are their friend at school and they keep trying to sell your sandwiches for a profit – but it shows you have the right kind of character.

Great sales people will usually not be able to help themselves – they simply have to work in sales because that is what they do. Rather than see a job advert and apply for it, they have usually made a few small business ideas before they have even finished their A Levels. If you are one of these types (and if you are you are probably not even reading this article as you are too busy selling your latest product and building up a large personal wealth, so essentially, this isn’t for you and we can call you whatever names we like) you will already know what career path suits you.

Can You Learn to Be a Great Sales Person?

If you are one of the ‘made not born’ sales types that are far more prevalent across the offices of the UK, there are plenty of hints and tips for building your sales skills. Take some sales training to boost your career, or make sure you find a company that will offer sales training if you don’t have the right background.

A great sales person needs to be resilient and confident. How resilient and confident is largely related to what type of sales environment you want to be involved in. Take recruitment, for example – if you are passionate about finding people a new job that is absolutely perfect for their needs, in the exact sector that you recruit for and have great contacts in the field, then it may be that you end up making great sales figures simply by virtue of the fact that you are well suited to the role. However, if you went for an interview for sales jobs with another recruitment firm in another sector, it may be that your sales figures would not translate.

You can be good at a certain type of sales without being a good sales person. The trick is finding what you are passionate about selling and do that. Think about when you try out a new restaurant and have a great meal in a wonderful atmosphere? You can barely stop yourself from telling other people to go themselves! That is selling.