Articles

Your first year in your sales career is crucial. If you can come through your first twelve months with tried-and-tested technical and personal skills which demonstrate your value to the company's sales cause then you're well positioned to use it as a spring board for future success. So how can you achieve it? How can you get through year one with the tools and experience which will help you succeed? Here are some suggestions. In the first of a two-part feature, we offer three essential practices you should embrace to develop a successful sales career. 

Organization

The best salespeople are well organized. Excellent time management and organization will set you up for long-term success because it will provide the discipline to prioritize selling responsibilities and leave enough time for your professional development. Decide on, and live by, a system to plan out each sales week. This will help you achieve your goals in a timely and manageable way.

It is also important to embrace the tech that will help you manage your sales funnel. Become, for example, a master of your company’s CRM and it’ll pay dividends later on.

Another essential tactic is to utilize the power of your smartphone. Make sure it is synced with your work calendar so that, in addition to displaying the time set aside for prospecting, lead nurturing and personal development, it also includes the contextual things which help you never miss that key industry event, those talked-about industry report releases or any major product releases.

Know the Products and Services You Sell

Your first year in a sales career is an opportunity to learn the product and services offered by your company. Make sure you're an expert in all things related to the features, advantages, and benefits of the products or services on offer at your company. Failure to do so will mean you may come unstuck when your clients and prospects start asking those more in-depth questions.

Think you won't come across particularly savvy prospects? Think again! Today's buyers can learn huge amounts about your company and the products it offers with just a few clicks which means that, by the time that they actually get to the stage of having real conversations with salespeople, prospects already have a solid appreciation of your business and so are looking for significant expertise to fill in the remaining dots prior to deciding whether or not to purchase. Part of this is also understanding what your company brand stands for. Ensure you understand and can outwardly represent the values and standards that your brand represents.

Know Your Market

Understanding the products and services offered by your company is important to be a sector expert but, in B2B sales, it doesn't mean much without understanding the industry context. Get to the know the players, challenges, opportunities, and motivations within the sectors you sell into. This will help you to have more in-depth conversations, build trust and identify new opportunities to sell.