[Luther]

I want to try out sales for the hell of it. I think it would be great for personal development (learning to speak better, learning to read people, master my own body language, social manipulation).
I’m a self employed carpenter so I have some experience dealing with customers. I also build and sell on speciation so I have experience selling high value items (houses) to people. Have shown houses to hundreds of prospective buyers but never took the selling part that seriously. Basically houses sell themselves.
Anyways, I want to try something fucking hard, like door to door, to test myself. Also think It’d be best to have skin in the game. Meaning that I purschase a bunch of a product which I believe in and then have to get rid of it.
Any ideas on possible products/opportunities? Sales advice?

[The Grey]

I'd advise anyone going into sales to only consider B2B and aim for enterprise sales. This is where the money is. Door to door is both hostile and not financially worth it. It's like getting rejected by a lot of ugly women for the small chance of scoring with a 6/10.

Skin in the game is not a bad thought, it forces extra effort. But it's not the way I personally would do it because you are taking on a lot of risks and it's much better selling someone else's products. Because you don't need to pay anything up front and they'll pay you.

As a carpenter, you should play on your experience and aim for some big company in the construction industry.

[BlastbeatCasanova]

“Door to door is both hostile and not financially worth it. It's like getting rejected by a lot of ugly women for the small chance of scoring with a 6/10.“

Disagree. But to succeed in D2D one must ave a have a strong work ethic and thick skin, because most people can’t cut it and quit. I did it for 5 years. Learned a ton about all kinds of things, met some awesome/crazy folks, had some wild adventures with my boys, made 5 figures in a summer and then fucked around and had the best year of my life with minimal responsibilities.

I agree however that if you want to make it out in the real world faster, B2B looks way better on a resume and to employers. That said, I wouldn’t trade my experiences and lessons learned for anything

[qwertyuiop]

high end b2b allows you live a pretty dope playboy lifestyle making a lot of money

it takes a few years to get there (3-5 in software), but if you're successful you'll end up as a jetset businessman making a few hundred grand a year.

[TeachNExplore]

Are you financially set for a while?

[wi30]

If you want to learn some selling skills for personal development and not money, go door-to-door. Nothing better than throwing yourself into the deep end. With your background I'd suggest finding any construction/home improvement company looking for canvassers. Roofing/siding/painting/windows/solar/fencing/landscaping/etc. all generate a majority of their leads by going door-to-door. You'll learn how one phrase or inflection can turn someone hot or cold. I can go into a lot more detail but in short you'll start to see everyday interactions differently.

Check out the inside/outside sales thread. I posted more info on this topic in there the other day.

(11-28-2018 10:00 PM)The Grey Wrote:  

I'd advise anyone going into sales to only consider B2B and aim for enterprise sales. This is where the money is. Door to door is both hostile and not financially worth it. It's like getting rejected by a lot of ugly women for the small chance of scoring with a 6/10.

Skin in the game is not a bad thought, it forces extra effort. But it's not the way I personally would do it because you are taking on a lot of risks and it's much better selling someone else's products. Because you don't need to pay anything up front and they'll pay you.

As a carpenter, you should play on your experience and aim for some big company in the construction industry.

Disagree strongly. Read his post. No one in the history of man has gone into enterprise sales 'for the hell of it' to 'improve personal development' and 'try something hard to test themselves'. Complex B2B/enterprise takes years of resume building and and stepping stones to get there.

Also, I've knocked on doors and gotten $50K+ contracts signed within the hour. Stay in your lane.

[DeboWhite]

I agree with wi30, my advice try to get a job in the sphere of sales from the beginning, so you can quickly gain experience.

You can find out how it works from the inside. Get acquainted with various sales tools, such as mass mailings like BSG, online advertising, and many others. With the product to sale will be determined more difficult. When choosing a product, I would pay attention to exactly what you like or hobby. So it will be easier for you to become an expert in this!

[Swan]

Is this a career move or strictly for personal development? If it's only for your development, then go for it. Sales is game - the skill sets definitely overlap to a large degree. I'm far from a natural in either and learning some sales skills has been a great benefit personally.

That being said, if you're looking at sales as a career and primary source of income, I'd do a bit more research to see if it would work for you. I recently heard a speaker suggest that about half of a person's success in sales is due to natural aptitude, while the other half is a combination of learned skills and organizational support. I've hired several sales guys, and I agree that some guys just have "it" while most don't.

Without that natural aptitude you can still hone your skills and max out your ability, similar to a short basketball player with good technical skills but without the natural size and athleticism to succeed at the highest level. For what it's worth, I'm fairly low in terms of natural sales aptitude and I think that there are far more sales jobs than there are good guys to fill them.

If you're looking at a career switch and want to make a pile of cash selling, I'd suggest an aptitude test. Do some homework to make sure that you're a good fit for the job. There are several designed for sales professionals (I don't have one to recommend at this point), and there are other more general assessments like DiSC. A DiSC result with a strong DI would suggest a natural aptitude for sales in my opinion. The best guys I've hired have been wired that way.

[lunchmoney]

Sales is a great profession, however it certainly isn't for everyone. 3 books a mentor shared with me a few years back were:
The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar.

I would read all three of those, take notes, and then decide which industry you want to try it in.

[Aviel]

I don’t believe in saying sales is not for everyone. It is a skill and a science that can be learned and developed.

I was and still am a VERY introverted person, fired from my first sales job, but now I work in software enterprise sales I’m actually doing really well. My coworker, complete opposite of me - amazing tonality on the phone, very much a people’s person, always starts convos when we meet new people. Our numbers have been identical! And im being serious here.

[DeboWhite]

I agree with wi30, my advice try to get a job in the sphere of sales from the beginning, so you can quickly gain experience. You can find out how it works from the inside. Get acquainted with various sales tools, such as mass mailings like BSG, online advertising, and many others. With the product to sale will be determined more difficult. When choosing a product, I would pay attention to exactly what you like or hobby. So it will be easier for you to become an expert in this!

[Swan]

One other thing to note - "sales" as a job can mean a number of different things. It could be cold calling from a list, building relationships over time to make a sale, being a technical resource in the sales department, or any number of other things.

That being said, there are a variety of people who can fit in a sales role, much like Aviel said. I'd look for someone with a different personality profile for technical sales vs. cold calling, for example.

It sounds like OP is leaning toward trying D2D sales, which certainly has different requirements and skills needed than sales for a more technical product with a longer buying cycle.

At any rate, my advice to someone interested in sales is to look into an assessment and pair that with the duties of the job to see if there's a decent fit to ensure long term success and happiness in the role.

[fktax]

(11-28-2018 10:00 PM)The Grey Wrote:  

Skin in the game is not a bad thought, it forces extra effort. But it's not the way I personally would do it because you are taking on a lot of risks and it's much better selling someone else's products. Because you don't need to pay anything up front and they'll pay you.

Do you have any tips on setting a strong agreement? Is commission only a good deal if you go for huge commissions and back yourself?

[KYT88]

If you're going Comms only you will want to ensure that as much of the leg work is on the company. They provide and source quality leads, they provide strong prospecting material, current clients happy with service/product, pay on time, low turn over of sales team etc.

[Luther]

Hey thanks for the replies guys. Wi30 nailed it, this is something I’ve wanted to try for awhile simply for the experience and personal growth. Honestly I don’t see it as a career. More like an education which I may get paid for.
TeachNExplore, yes I am comfortable financially. That’s exactly why I’d consider putting time into this.

[RWIsrael]

Is door to door sales still a thing in the age of internet ads and online searches/shopping?

I can understand travelling salesmen in the 50's going around town with their suitcase knocking on random doors and kindly strangers giving them the time of day, but these days I imagine people can search for whatever they want conveniently online and are also more wary of letting strangers into their home.

I always thought it is similar to going to prospective employers offices and asking for a job - today in the corporate world you wouldn't get past reception, assuming they even let you into the building without an appointment.

[fktax]

(12-18-2018 11:56 PM)KYT88 Wrote:  

If you're going Comms only you will want to ensure that as much of the leg work is on the company. They provide and source quality leads, they provide strong prospecting material, current clients happy with service/product, pay on time, low turn over of sales team etc.

I have some income that pays the bills so I can handle this risk.

Sales seems like a good personal development exercise with a major financial upside - worth it.

[Nolimitz]

I have been doing cold call sales in a boiler room type environment the past few months.

As someone who tilts towards the introvert side, it has definitely been a shock to my system.

Rejection is something I can handle, but on top of the rejection you get rejected in front of all your coworkers. It's very similar to public speaking in a way. One of my biggest obstacles thus far has been self consciousness.

I have handled the consciousness best by retreating inwards and placing higher value on my own opinion of myself than on the opinion of others (my colleagues/etc).

Also working on my tonality and inflection (something that I am not particularly gifted with). It's a work in process, but I do feel these skills are transferable into all areas of life. So regardless of my success in this job I will continue to stick out.

Another thing I have learned is that if you ask leading questions and get the prospect to say yes the interaction goes much smoother. Also I notice my rapport decreases when in my intro I say "do you have a couple minutes" or "is this a good time?"....in other words "assume the sale". Good luck man!

[BlastbeatCasanova]

@RWIsrael yeah it’s vey much alive and well, but mostly suited to products and services for the home, like solar power, alarms/home automation, pest control, roofing, etc. as opposed to other products you could just buy on amazon. I think some guys still try to hustle Kirby vacuums like they used to in the old days

[RichieP]

(12-22-2018 01:12 PM)BlastbeatCasanova Wrote:  

@RWIsrael yeah it’s vey much alive and well, but mostly suited to products and services for the home, like solar power, alarms/home automation, pest control, roofing, etc. as opposed to other products you could just buy on amazon. I think some guys still try to hustle Kirby vacuums like they used to in the old days

Yep this. Solar can be particularly lucrative, I knew a guy who crushed that D2D.

[M161]

I've been tempted to do the same thing. I'm currently doing a PhD in Machine Learning but was thinking of taking a software sales job after this for a while.

In the book "Influence" by Robert Cialdini, he describes working at a few different sales places and goes into detailed interviews with others. It's definitely worth a read - sounds like you'd find it interesting anyways.

[Muffuguh]

Posting to a forum about thinking about trying sales...dude just do it. You'll find out pretty quick if you have it or you don't. I started out selling to tourists on the street in a commission-only job (no base pay-you don't sell you don't get paid at all). We were selling guided tours. Funnily one of the guys who gave the tours was something of an alpha (ex military, confident) but he said to me that he never managed to sell one tour. I was all right at it even though I'm an introvert. So it's more than just being confident and "alpha". Sometimes some tolerance for pain comes in handy. Anyways, now I'm in B2B IT sales and sometimes it's very tough but this is the most money I can make without a college degree. And like OP i view it as a sort of military for social skills that I never learned from my absentee father. Plus the money and travel is quite nice.

[Cobra]

OP, I've written about this in other threads also.

wi30 is right. I know him and he's legit.

I work in selling somewhat complex consulting solutions. Done it for almost 5 years now. Before that I was an accountant. So, if I can do it, so can you.

I eat what I kill. However, I don't kill unless I hunt a lot of leads. I consider myself a smart guy but this hunting part is something I turn off my thinking for. You need to be consistent to hunt. And you need to hunt many prospects. That consistency and volume will give you results. I know guys in my business that have zero personality but end up being extremely successful because they reach out to every single person they can in a textbook manner.

It's like a lion attacking a heard of 100+ antelope. He's going to catch one because there's 100 of them.

There's top sales people in every profession. I recommend going to a place where you can find someone willing to teach you. This is hard. I used to be this guy for every newbie. However, I stopped because most of them never succeed. Reasons, they never did what I told them. Now I wait 6 months before I spend any time on some knucklehead.

[Muffuguh]

Yeah there's the hammering the phones approach and the being smart about it approach, cherry picking. All the while being methodical about the whole thing. Always learn something new.

(02-02-2019 01:37 PM)Cobra Wrote:  

OP, I've written about this in other threads also.

wi30 is right. I know him and he's legit.

I work in selling somewhat complex consulting solutions. Done it for almost 5 years now. Before that I was an accountant. So, if I can do it, so can you.

I eat what I kill. However, I don't kill unless I hunt a lot of leads. I consider myself a smart guy but this hunting part is something I turn off my thinking for. You need to be consistent to hunt. And you need to hunt many prospects. That consistency and volume will give you results. I know guys in my business that have zero personality but end up being extremely successful because they reach out to every single person they can in a textbook manner.

It's like a lion attacking a heard of 100+ antelope. He's going to catch one because there's 100 of them.

There's top sales people in every profession. I recommend going to a place where you can find someone willing to teach you. This is hard. I used to be this guy for every newbie. However, I stopped because most of them never succeed. Reasons, they never did what I told them. Now I wait 6 months before I spend any time on some knucklehead.

[ju1ce]

Forget what you heard. One name, the authority of modern sales:

Grant Cardone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXreDCyZ...mcJ9jgWRCY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oq98HHJ...mcJ9jgWRCY
Todd is under Grant, he used to do door-to-door.