It is critical that you have the ability to meet people and become comfortable with them easily. You also need the ability to talk to strangers, and an ability to accept criticism and rejection without taking it personally. Just because they don't buy your product doesn't mean you're a bad person, they just don't buy from you. No big deal, just go find someone else who will buy from you.
You will need to be completely self-motivated, especially in outside sales. No one from your company sees you regularly, no one tells you to get out of bed and make an 8:00 A.M. appointment, no one watches to see what time you quit in the evening-it's all entirely up to you. This can be a fatal trap for someone who is not internally motivated, because while no one is watching you, they are all watching your numbers. If your sales fall below average, you're soon on the street again-with no reference for your next job.
You will also need to be exceptionally well organized, as you will keep your own files. I spend one day per week just on paperwork-filing quotes I've written, responding to requests for information, tracking procurements and projects, keeping up with time cards, expense reports, mileage logs, and tracking customer problems. When I'm out of town for 2 to 3 weeks, this means spending the first three days I am home just playing paperwork catch-up.
You need to have good time management skills, too. You have to get everything done in a reasonable amount of time, or else your job will engulf you and eat up your entire life. Sales takes a lot of time-I work an average of 10 hours a day-but it also gives you the ability to manage your time however you want to. I may play hooky one afternoon and go climb a glacier when I am in Alaska, but I'll work until 11:30 the next evening writing a proposal that is due the following day. There are days I work 4 hours, then quit and lie in the sun; but there are many more days when I work until after dinnertime.
You must be able to write easily and well, as you will be doing a great deal of it-proposals, bids, reports, letters, and so on. If writing is a struggle for you, sales is not your field-you must leave a clear paper trail behind you, for both legal and professional reasons.
Being a confident, aggressive person is a plus. A shrinking violet has a hard time in sales. While confidence comes with time and knowledge of your product and your company, the inherent ability to walk up to a stranger and say, "Hi, I'm Erin Hall Meade, and I work for LAS Laboratories. Can I talk to you for 5 minutes?" is mandatory. Never be embarrassed-if things don't work out, you just walk away and they'll forget you in no time.
A lot of people say good looks are important in outside sales. While it is true that everyone likes to look at handsome people, this is not a job requirement. It is more important that you have a pleasant personality, that you are well-groomed, and that you are confident (does this sound like something you heard in your high school health class?). A well-dressed, personable person will always come out ahead of a gorgeous airhead hunk (unless you're selling copiers or carpet shampoo, and why would you want to do that?).
There are a few people in my field (with other companies) that have minimal technical training. I have no difficulty selling against them, even though they may be younger, better-looking, thinner, and so on. When my client says, "How can I do this job for the least money, getting the best data?" the airhead says, "I'll call my office and get a technical person to call you back." I say, "Let me show you how to optimize this project, saving both time and money." My success rate is higher than average because I know my field and the technology, not because I am the best-looking person in the field. (Which, of course, I am. Ha!)
What Companies Have Sales People?
Easy-all companies have sales people. Some companies have different names for them-account representative, business development, marketing, and so on. Any company that sells a thing, an idea, or a service has to have someone to sell it for them. And it might as well be you!
What percentage of a company is composed of salespeople? This can vary widely, depending on what they sell. My lab has 75 to 90 employees, and we have 4 salespeople. Between the four of us, we bring in $9 million to $14 million a year-enough to keep those 90 people employed. If a company is just a "shell"(meaning they're just a middleman, adding cost but relatively little other value to someone else's product other than a sales force), the percentage can be as high as 90%. However, watch out for this type of company-they usually don't take good care of their salespeople and their clients can often cut them out and go directly to the source of the goods or service, thus cutting out the mark-up.
Also, watch out for companies that sell commodity items-boring stuff than anyone who can walk and breathe simultaneously can sell. This means things like office supplies, copiers, telephone systems, encyclopedias, maintenance chemicals, paper supplies, restaurant supplies and all that sort of stuff. If it doesn't take any special skills, intelligence, or talent to sell the product, you're in stiff competition with the 23-year-old buxom blonde who giggles and snaps her gum, but is cute as hell-and she's going to get that sale almost every time. It sounds trite, but it's true. Try to sell something that takes brains to understand and explain-there's less competition, you have better job security, and it's a lot more challenging intellectually. Plus, you become more valuable to the company as you get older, not less valuable.
