Sales Careers

The evening news today presented a story about how retired NFL players are collectively suing the NFL. Their suit claims that the league did not do enough to prevent and bring awareness to brain injuries, such as concussions.

Maybe I've had a few too many head injuries but wouldn't injuries be expected in a collision-centric sport?

Don't get me wrong, I wish all the players who are struggling with long lasting brain injuries as a result of their playing time all the best. I love football and enjoy watching a good hit as much as the next guy. But to sue over injuries is a bit of a stretch in my mind.

In my sales career, the closest thing to a job-related injury I've sustained is a bit of carpal tunnel from entering all those sales into a sales database. No comparison, I know. And I also know that I won't be joining any collective law suit in the near or distant future.

Today, US President Obama slipped away to Afghanistan to meet with their leaders to discuss the transition from war to peace. While the certainty of peace is yet to be realized, meetings like these can spark positive movements towards peace.

I've heard it said a hundred times that war is good for the US economy, but the Afghan and Iraq war didn't help put more money in my accounts.

In fact, the economy has been anything but roaring since 2008 and the bursting of the housing market.

But can peace be good for sales and the economy in general?

There are certainly more positive aspects to peace than to war but my experience has shown that the US often makes agreements during peace times that cost us billions if not trillions of dollars. That money leaves our economy and pumps up the economies of other countries. Not that I am advocating for war, but times of peace seem to be as expensive as times of war. The difference being that during war, more money is pumped into our economy as opposed to the economy of our former enemies.

In the end, I am a sales professional and not an economist and would love to hear an experts thoughts on this simple question: "What is better for our economy, War or Peace?"

Apple's iPhones are pieces of art, Android based phones are cutting edge and Blackberry phones were the smartphone of choice for millions of business minded Americans. With RIM (the manufacturer of Blackberry smartphones) posting some serious revenue losses, you might wonder why I would even include Blackberry's in an article that aims to choose the best smartphone for sales professionals.

The reason I've included Blackberry is simply a matter of personal experience. I've used Android phones, iPhone's and Blackberry phones during my tenure in sales and currently carry two smartphones around with me almost at all time. (In case you are wondering, I have a Blackberry Bold 9930 and an iPhone sitting next to me as I write this blog.)

Recently, I've decided to move to having just one smartphone and was forced to choose which phone would satisfy both my personal and business objectives.

As objectively as I could, I listed categories and rated each of the three major smartphone types against each other. The winner of my comparison would be the smartphone that I decide to rely on when I go from two to one.

Which smartphone do you think came out on top and which one would you choose?

I get asked a lot of questions as a Guide for About. Some of the questions are really strange. Some are so unique that I have to research or consult with some of my sales mentors for answers.

The two questions I get asked most often are "how can I find a job in sales" and "how can I get better in sales?"

Both of these questions are challenging to answer and both have several correct answers. While I've posted several articles and blogs on finding a job, I've seldom answered the question of how to sell more and earn success in sales.

If there was one piece of advice I would give to anyone interested in getting better in sales, it would be to get all the training possible. Get training from your company, your co-workers, from books, CD's, DVD's, seminars and from your customers.

I've spent a lot of time improving my sales skills. I've read hundreds of articles, books and websites. I've attended sales seminars and sales training courses. Since most of my sales positions required a lot of driving, I have listened to thousands of hours of inspirational/motivational tapes and CDs.

Regardless of my unique sales skills, I've learned beyond a shadow of a doubt that sales professionals who make improving their skills a priority are significantly more successful than are those who view their skills as "good enough."

When it comes to improving sales skills, either you are committed or you see improvements as unnecessary and feel that time learning how to sell better is time better spent in front of customers. If you are in the latter group, you should visit Alison Doyle's site much more frequently!

What does "being motivated" mean to you? Does it mean that you have the internal drive to accomplish all the tasks and duties that you have to do in a particular day? Does motivation mean your drive to overcome obstacles and challenges? Or does being motivated mean something external to you providing a source of inspiration?

No matter how you define motivation, you probably notice when you are not motivated as easily as noticing when you are motivated.

I firmly believe that nothing external can motivate anyone. All motivation/drive/desire comes from within. While external events may be the catalyst that gets your blood pumping, it is how you internalize anything external that gets you motivated or disinterested.

The trick, then, to getting and maintaining motivation is to expose yourself to a steady of stream of external events/images/objects that you can internalize and feed the fires of motivation. A man who sits alone in a dark room and is seldom exposed to anything will certainly be an extremely unmotivated man. Conversely, a woman with an active social life, who is aware of her surroundings and can make distinctions between things she likes and things she does not like, is someone who has an abundance of motivational sources.

Despite the quality and quantity of your external sources, your attitude, emotional faculties and decide whether you will be motivated positively or negatively.

For sales professionals, our mission is to find positive external sources that will feed our internal motivation and drive ourselves towards a positive result.

How do you get and maintain your motivation?

The sun has been in the news a lot lately. Solar flares, global warming and the whole Mayan calendar thing saying that 12/21/2012 will be a very bad day because of where the sun rises that morning. Whether or not you buy into any or all of the concerns about the sun, there is one thing that I think we can all agree on: The sun is hot and spending too much time in direct sunlight can cause some nasty sunburns.

What is needed is some shade. For those who prefer to have an abundance of shade, not only from the sun but from any number of sources, a career in sales is not a great choice.

In sales, you are almost always on stage whenever you are working. Your customers are judging you as are you co-workers and supervisors.

Sales is no place for shade lovers!

One of the most popular searches on About.com is "finding a job." So it should come as no surprise that, as the Sales Career Guide, I get asked for job search advice quite often.

Finding a job in sales is essentially the same as finding a job in most every other career field. Depending on the level of position you are looking to land, your job search will provide better results if you search for positions that are on par with your experience, education and skill set. However, unless you have no interests in expanding and advancing your sales career, your job search should also include searches 1 or 2 steps above your current or most recent position.

Expanding your search to include positions that you may not be ready for helps prepare you for the interviewing process when you are ready. Don't expect to get called in for as many interviews for positions above your current level as compared to jobs that are consistent to your current level.

The only downside of expanding your search is that you may just get offered a position that is above your experience level and you will need to both improve your skills and find a talented Financial Consultant!

Catchy title, huh? Ask just about anyone in sales (or any career for that matter,) if they are interested in earning more money, and you will get a resounding "YES!." For those of us in sales, earning more money can be accomplished by either selling more or by adding more profit to our deals.

Even better that either of these two options is to do both: Sell more and earn more per sale.

Before you label me as "Captain Obvious," answer a question: If most everyone wants to earn more money and already knows these two ways, then why don't more sales professionals earn more money?"

In most cases, diminished earnings come from either low activity levels or a lack of critical skills.

No one can motivate you long term to increase your activity and no one can inspire you to do what it takes to improve your sales skills. It's all up to you! Only you know if you've lived up to your potential at the end of each day and only you can truly decide whether you are dedicated to getting better at sales.

Do you have it in you to successful? If not, sales will not be your career for long.

GTD, which any fan of author David Allen will tell you, stands for "Getting Things Done." Allen's approach to time management extends well beyond a to-do list and approaches being a method to run your life by.

As much as I love Allen's GTD, I have found a time management approach that doesn't require any training, extensive reading or a major change of life. It is simply adopting the attitude of "Doing it Now."

Where this approach to task management really shines is when you apply it to getting your things done. By this I mean doing things that will have a positive effect on your life, right away.

Let's look at an example of what I am taking about. Let's say on Monday you accomplish a total of 25 tasks out of your total list of 30 tasks. 23 of these 25 completed tasks mainly benefited your boss or someone other than you. On Tuesday, you accomplish 12 of the 50 tasks on your list of to do's. However 11 of these 12 were most important to you. Question: After which day would sleep more soundly?

I have to believe that you'll wake up well rested on Wednesday and feel a bit sluggish on Tuesday.