Hannah Simons
If you’re lucky enough to land a sales role, then you’re already off to a flying start. Graduate roles are increasingly harder to secure, with the job market continually fluctuating and competition higher than ever. Now you’ve landed your dream job, the hard work doesn’t stop there. You’ll want to make an impression, ensure you stand out from the crowd and make sure you’re leading the way for a successful career in sales.
If you want to progress and ensure you’re doing the right things to impress your manager, team and overall the company, we’ve compiled 10 things you need to know to get the most out of your first sales role.
1. Get to know your team
From day one make the effort to get to know your team. If 1-1 time hasn’t been placed in your diary, make sure you schedule that time for yourself. This comes both in the form of formal meetings, or via in person or virtual informal chats, where you can ask a member of your team to grab a coffee with you. Both are equally important.
For the formal meetings, you really want to understand their role and how it might affect or overlap with yours. Ask questions such as “How can I help make your work-life easier?” or “How do you see my role coming into contact with yours?”. Get to know how they like to work, do they prefer online messages or emails, do they prefer to have meetings face-to-face or over Zoom. This will all help in making sure you understand your place within the wider context of the team and how everyone can work together.
Just as important, are the informal coffee breaks, ‘water cooler’ chats or general group conversations you may find yourself in around the office. If you’re fully remote then software based group chats may be your best insight. These help you to develop deeper connections with your team and ensure you have a good working relationship.
By forming these relationships early on with your team, you’re building the foundations to help progress your career. These will be the people that can help you when you’re facing challenges, point you in the right direction when you have questions or provide that sound advice you need when facing a dilemma. One of the main benefits of working for a SME is that you’re likely to have greater access to senior members of staff, an opportunity that you won’t receive in many graduate roles, so be sure to use this to your advantage and make the most out of your time with any senior team member.
It is also worth noting that relationship forming shouldn’t be limited to just your direct team. Whoever you come into contact with in the business, ensure you find out who they are, and what they do, clearly introduce yourself and make a good impression.
2. Understand the business
Making time to really get to know your team, understand their roles, their clients and their involvement in the company, it will help you to understand the overall business.
That isn’t to say that this is the only way to understand the business. Take the time to read up on the industry, delve deep into any articles on the company, research competitors and any clients that are mentioned on the website. Ensuring you know the business from the ground up will help you when it comes to selling. You’ll be able to lean on the values of the company, reviews from current clients, understand the pain points of the industry and explain how your products and services can help resolve them.
Don’t wait for someone to give you a history lesson, start the research yourself. This will make you stand out from the crowd and ensure a smooth start to your sales career.
3. Understand the business ecosystem
Making time to really get to know your team, understand their roles, their clients and their involvement in the company, it will help you to understand the overall business.
That isn’t to say that this is the only way to understand the business. Take the time to read up on the industry, delve deep into any articles on the company, research competitors and any clients that are mentioned on the website. Ensuring you know the business from the ground up will help you when it comes to selling. You’ll be able to lean on the values of the company, reviews from current clients, understand the pain points of the industry and explain how your products and services can help resolve them.
Don’t wait for someone to give you a history lesson, start the research yourself. This will make you stand out from the crowd and ensure a smooth start to your sales career.
Versatility and choice
There are more jobs that fall under the blanket terms of sales than you may think. Recruitment, account management, business development and field sales all fall under the umbrella of sales role, making the job market a diverse and rewarding sector to be in.
High demand
All businesses are offering products, services or both. If it’s a tangible product or a range of services you’re selling, you are guaranteed to always be in high demand. Sales skills are also easily transferable and can help you climb the ladder to qualify for better jobs in the future.
Potential earnings
Sales jobs come with the potential for signification remuneration in the form of salary, commission, bonuses or a mix of all these things. Wage and performance-based incentives are one of the most lucrative factors of working in business-to-business sales roles. With an income based on your own individual efforts and performance, it’s the perfect role for an individual with ambition and self-determination to succeed.
Learning and development
The opportunities to continue to learn, develop and grow your skills are abundant in sales. With the business landscape constantly evolving and changing, it requires salespeople to constantly up-skill and sharpen new and old skills alike.
A career in sales is worth exploring if you’re looking for high-earning potential and a way to constantly challenge and self-develop, If you’re considering a career in sales, or looking to get your foot in the door, Furza can help.
Our dedicated 3-month academy gives you the resources you need to build a solid foundation of sales knowledge and the ability to gain real-world experience in blue-chip organisations.
Contact our team today to find out more.
