More than any other sector you’ll find here on s1jobs, Sales takes the Wagon Wheel-sized biscuit when it comes to inspirational quotes more likely to make you groan than go get ‘em.
“Close a deal and you eat tonight. Forge a relationship and you eat for life.”
Yes, that kind of thing.
Our personal favourite for the cringe-factor alone is “Make the customer the hero of your story”.
The truth is, if you really want to learn how to get on in Sales, you have to travel way back in history.
Aristotle may not have known it at the time, but when he uttered the phrase: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit”, he accidentally invented the perfect motivational slogan for the sales industry.
We can’t tell if the toga makers and lyre players of ancient Greece who took his advice found themselves with new customers, but more than 2000 years and many more aphorisms later, his words stand for much more in the the world of sales then any modern mantra.
His lines share the commendable qualities of being short and memorable but also relevant.
Repetition, you see, is everything when it comes to honing salesmanship: the more you do it, the easier it will become, and the greater success you will enjoy.
So rather than pinning a handmade sign above your desk that says “You don’t close a sale, you open a relationship”, the best way to progress your career is to gain experience: every hour, every day.
Many sales vacancies seek such repetitively proven skills backed up with solid results.
The good news is there are also hundreds where you can gain this all-important, tangible experience.
Choosing depends, of course, on where you are in your Sales career and, therefore, how much you will be expected to bring to the role.
In an entry level Sales position, enthusiasm and a determination to succeed, coupled with an ability to learn quickly can be enough to get you started, but for something like a Sales Manager covering a large territory you will have to demonstrate management skills, an analytical mind and networking abilities and the only way to gain this kind of CV is by hard work and real endeavour.
For motivated self-starters, however, the rewards for putting in all that effort can be impressive and not just when working for established companies.
There are numerous young, fast-paced and entrepreneurial businesses that are going places in a hurry and which need talented Sales people to take them there.
If your horizons extend further than Hadrian’s Wall, you might be the right fit for an international role, extending sales into new territories and global markets.
For all these senior positions you need to be able to spot opportunities and plan ahead, while not neglecting the bread-and-butter tasks that build the foundations of every successful endeavour.
In this, you’d be satisfying Aristotle’s invocation to do your best every single time. We’re sure he’d be thrilled . . . then again, the modern Sales world might be all Greek to the world’s best-known philosopher.