TOPIC: Sales job advice for a newbie.

Hey lads,
So got an interview for professional sales job this Friday bricking it and nervous . It's going to be super competitive.
As an introvert trying to change into an extrovert any tips or advice for a new guy going into professional sales.
I have got a group assessment day so I got to prep for that shit and make myself stand out. There will be group exercises, 30-second pitch "why me" and group planning exercise and sales role play.
Confidence and mindset are pretty key and no prior experience required.
I do work at a sales admin job where I do sell a product and get commission at the moment but its mostly inbound and I don't push myself like some hustler. They are paying me less and not giving us the title of sales manager etc so moving on from my village to a city to improve my life.
Taking advice from some threads and an article so far:
www.goodlookingloser.com/more/archive/en...your-social-skills//
www.goodlookingloser.com/forums/general-...a-sales-pro?start=84
I am going to have to think nothing but sales stuff this week, watch movies for motivation, read some books and prep for this shit hard.
If anyone has any advice or questions that would be much appreciated.

Hey, I have made a considerable amount of money in sales in my first year. I was and still am an introvert to the highest degree. Also quickly got promoted to assistant manager and eventually to sales manager.

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask. I have some insider perspective to share.

Hey guys I think this is a great/productive thread for everybody... develop the shit out of this

Welcome to GLL by the way, OpenBook.

Love the premise of your name

Open Book - thanks.
At the moment selling a product on basic salary and small commission each quarter brought in a near a million since I started this job but not much cold calling mostly leads are generated from inbound calls.
My question is:
What's the one thing you wish you knew when starting out in sales? (the most important aspect of sales you wish you knew).
I feel with these interviews coming up I will have to be confident and a witty guy lol I am not that at all.
I want a sales job so I am social and work at a bigger company and move to the city to have a more social lifestyle.
There is a lot of fluff and info out there on sales as a whole.

As a career slaes professional with well over 100k of sales oriented training from some of the top companies I will say this...

Focus on the customers current situation first and foremost. Learn and discover as much about it as you can. once you understand the situation paint a picture of thier current path and how it needs to change. Emphasize the consequences they face if they fail to make the needed changes.

Do not sell anything yet, except that the customer needs to change etc... once this is established, and only then, you can present you/your company as a valid option idealy with third party non biased case studies showing how and why you are the best option.

If you focus on these basic things and truely do them, this company would be stupid as fuck to not hire you, or you simply are not cut out for sales at all. Be honest with yourself here, as it will guide you in the best direction for your life etc..

Now, this is for a proper sales meeting for high dollar value projects. They might also be asking for an "elevator sales pitch" which is where you have 30 seconds to introduce yourself and make a quick pitch.

Here is an example of this....
I will use stallion lifestlye (brand I used to own/run and promote on this forum)

"Hey my name is AJ, I am the owner of stallionlifestyle.com *handshake* *good eye contact* *friendly demeanor* Stallion lifestyle is the only results oriented training academy for men that teaches them how to meet and bed the most attractive women. Unlike many of my competitors, 100% of the students who worked with me achieved thier goals if they applied my advice. If you are serious about sleeping with more women, and/or more attractive women, I am the man for the job.

*Hands over stack of testimonials with creep pics* These are some of the success stories from my students. Some of them are available to speak with you on the phone to verify they were beyond satisfied with my training program. My contact information is included....

From here you either catch thier interest and they want to fuck more/hotter women or they don't... but its a fast paced elevator pitch.

Most "low level" sales jobs would be more focused on the later.

another thing i will add... is that if your going in blind and haven on time to prepare for this... you can bring in some blank paper and a pen and write "non biased case study that shows XYZ" on it and hand it to them during the "role play" ... or something along those lines. There is often a lot of wiggle room in these roles plays, so you can "role play" being prepared and having the requisite material even when you really dont.

Lionamongsheep - Just like everything in life, it's better for you to KISS ("Keep It Simple Stupid") when it comes to sales.

There is a LOT I can tell you about sales, but most of it will only cause analysis-paralysis. You will learn everything along the way.

However, I will leave you with the three most important things you should do at any case. Those principles, by and large, are the reason I have achieved success in my field, which is very cutthroat, while many have failed.

1) If you want real success in sales, you must go ALL IN. I understand you want a "social lifestyle"... In my experience, sales should be your only "lifestyle" if you're new to this. Nothing else. At least for the first few months.

2) This comes together with #1 - Be the hardest worker in the team. Just put in the calls/hours/pitches. Results do not matter at the first few weeks. This will seperate you from the rest of the team and make stand out to the bosses (SUPER important). They want guys who are hungry for money, show it from the first minute.

3) Learn. Everytime you see something that works, do it. Great sales pitch comes from learning what works and what doesn't. Again, do not focus on results when you start, it is better to build a base of work ethic/learning, people will help you, they want you to make them money.

Another thing - Don't worry about being alpha/masculine/tall/jordan belfort/confident social butterfly and all that. It's all bullshit and a waste of your energy. None of it actually matters when it comes to your success. You do need to be hungry, and it will slightly help if you "dress for success", but don't overdo it.

This is just my experience. As for "getting the job", it's something different. Try to convey those principles in the interviews. Again, don't worry about being witty and all that stuff.

Anything else?

Open Book and FS-Ronin thank you for the advice it means alot.
One of my other options was to find a job at a startup because there is a lot of potential for growth in your role. It's always evolving and changing as the business grows.

Open Book or FS Ronin - Is there one book or anything on the web I should check out that you would highly recommend to read/learn?

Hey bro, been in sales as a top performer and trained/managed reps for a few years now.

Great advice here so far. I'm an introvert as well - I find people like us are often the best at sales because our personalities are naturally disposed to listening and understanding others. Look at it like an asset.

The old school sales trainers have the best advice. Read Brian Tracy, Zig Zigler, Tom Hopkins books and focus on understanding the principles behind every tactic.

Sales managers love hungry, sharp guys that are coachable. LISTENING and asking intelligent questions are the super powers here. With entry level stuff it's not about acing the interview with your highly honed skills, but showing good qualities so they can mold you into a badass closer. Good luck man.

.

Cheers guys for the advice. I will post on here how my interview goes lads.

Lads, I had the assessment day on Friday 9 - 3.
I didn't get the job but I learnt a lesson. I was far too nervous for this. I could prep better too but I was not too bad.I messed up on the individual face to face sales meeting where you had to close a sale to progress basically. I didn't close the deal and gave a free trial .
There was about 30 or so of us at the start of the day. It was for a graduate sales role.
I didn't graduate btw I am drop out of uni.
The assessment day included elevator pitch about yourself - Why hire me, group activities then I made the cut and more than half were cut lol. Then sales pitch examples were telephone and face to face then only 5 were cut which included me and then after it would have been individual interviews with the companies 8(.
Funny thing,the fact the candidates had master degrees and from the top 10 universities saying they have chemical engineering degree etc I was like wtf you here for .
Some were saying some funny stuff for example dude in his individual 30-second pitch - Why hire me said his USP ( tell us something unique about you) said he was voted the best PUA in his school ROFL haha. That's not normal bro to bring this shit up at interviews his social and emotional IQ was pretty low.
There was panel watching us made up of companies and the recruiters. The recruiter leading the day asked what does that mean haha. The dude who said that btw had a stutter, Indian and was pretty nervous bless him. He got cut at lunch lol.
There was a guy I sat next to that was way too try hard like saying he was in an expensive suit and did finance at some fancy uni blah blah. He had been to 4 -5 of these assessment days I was like shit dude you must be well prepped. I think he put far too much pressure on himself. I was like wtf you doing here then you could be on way more money with your degree etc in enterprise sales or real estate and finance sector.
In his pitch he was far too try hard saying at the end 'remember the name J' lol.
Anyways, I got a few stories from it and I will apply for more.
Maybe my personality doesn't fit sales it has to be trained through experience same as pick up.
In the day I was mostly chatting about giving advice to guys about marketing. That's my degree background and being a little older than some of them I felt they were a little miss guided in the reason for applying for this job.
On a side note using Myers Briggs seems to consistently be saying I am INFP.
www.16personalities.com/infp-personality
I am wondering what are people thoughts about personalities that fit sales? My friends tell me that my personality doesn't fit sales at all. They say I should be a brogrammer or online marketing biz.
It's funny really some have a clear path of what they should be doing I don't. I am not sure what career/job I want I am just experimenting and trying to find out what matches my strengths and weaknesses.