EVERYONE IS IN “SALES”

By Kerry Daigle

Kerry Daigle is a contributing writer for Bonnes Nouvelles publication. You can read more about the good people and news at Bonnes Nouvelles @ their website www.ilovegoodnews.com.

Kerry Daigle and George Foreman

EVERYONE IS IN “SALES”

What comes to your mind when you think of the word ‘salesman’, ‘saleswoman’, or ‘salesperson’? Most of the time you think of someone you hassle with at the automobile dealership about the price of a car…OR….the person calling you constantly who wants to have you think about your retirement income or insuring your home or yourself. You might think of the telemarketer that just happens to call you right when you are sitting down with your child to do homework or while you are preparing to eat dinner. Or how about the person knocking on your door asking you to donate money to a charitable organization or for you to buy magazine subscriptions. You also remember the person who calls you constantly and leaving messages wondering why you don’t ever call them back.

Many people are quoted as saying, “I’ll never be in sales”……or “I could never do that”…or….”I can’t sell anything.”

Well, listen up! EVERYONE IS IN SALES. Kind of shocking news isn’t it? Think about it for a moment. The teacher is selling her students on an education. The principal is selling the teachers to do a better job selling the students. The pastor or preacher of a church is constantly attempting to sell you the benefits of religion and that you should ‘donate’ to the church and/or its organizations it represents. The attorney is either selling a ‘client’ on ‘why’ the client needs her services or is selling a jury why her client is right. The physician is selling you to ‘come back’ for another appointment. The hospital sells the potential patient why their hospital is the best available. The dentist sells you on why you need a great smile. Parents are selling their children discipline and rules, even so far as to ‘bribe’ the children into buying the parent’s way of thinking. Politicians are selling you to vote for them and why. Waitresses are selling you special items on menus.

The point is folks……..EVERYBODY IS SELLING SOMEBODY SOMETHING!! That is a fact!!

Now, a successful salesperson is someone who is friendly and willing to help you focus on your needs and how they can best assist you. The top salespeople help solve problems for prospects or individuals to can get what the prospect or individual wants………not what the salesperson wants. Preachers and teachers come to mind in this scenario. Becoming a top salesperson requires you to be more concerned about the needs of your prospect before your own needs as a salesperson.

Now, let’s take a look at the options you have in sales. You have inside retail sales, outside sales, traveling sales, direct sales, network marketing sales, telemarketing sales, and third party sales. These are the basic categories.

Let’s discuss INSIDE RETAIL SALES. These include jobs in retail houses selling clothing, sportswear, auto parts, religious gifts, appliances, furniture, etc. These people are usually employed by a firm or person and work ‘inside’ and ‘don’t do any sales work outside of their showroom or department. They generally work within a building.

Next, we have OUTSIDE SALES. You would look at automobile salesmen in this category. Although they have showrooms most of their product is sold outside and prospects are derived from individuals shopping their outside inventory. They also could ‘travel’ within a small-designated territory to find and call on prospects. Radio and television sales teams come to mind along with insurance and real estate salespeople. They are usually face to face with their prospect and could spend lots of time with each client or prospect.

Now the TRAVELING SALESPERSON does exactly that. Travels……travels…….and travels……usually a much larger territory….across a state or several states…….nationwide….or even internationally. They are usually professional looking, dressed in suits, drive nice personal cars or company cars. Pharmaceutical representatives, professional speakers, and authors, come to mind with this category.

The next type…THE DIRECT SALES PERSON…….usually works directly with a manufacturer selling specific products and does some traveling themselves. Most traveling salespersons fall in this category but direct sales people can have small territories or large ones. Many are self-employed. In fact, most of the highly successful ones are self-employed. A direct salesperson could also work out of their home and do home parties or home seminars. Encyclopedia or book sales usually fall in this category.

Next is TELEMARKETING SALES. These are the ‘dialing for dollars’ salespeople. Everyone has encountered a ‘telemarketer’ at some time or other. Some are very good at what they do and can attract your attention quickly with sharp, quick-witted questions…….while others bore you with their script you know they are reading to you. Many and most work within a cubicle and may contact as many as 150 people a day probably getting more rejection than any other salesperson. Usually experienced telemarketers after 3 to 5 years in this field go off to become highly successful in another arena of selling. They get more rejection ,as I mentioned, and the phrase……NO, I’M NOT INTERESTED…… doesn’t deter them……they just keep moving on. Banks, loan companies, brokerage firms, magazine houses, and almost all sales categories utilize this type of selling to attract new prospects.

Now you say, what the heck is THIRD PARTY SALESPEOPLE?? These are usually endorsers of products through television or radio…..major or micro-celebrities. They could also be a professional speaker who speaks on some major topic such as ‘hair loss’ and at the end of a presentation to an audience sells a ‘hair growth product’……or a Chamber of Commerce Spokesperson who talks about the economy or the strength of a city they represent…….and right at the end ‘why’ you should ‘join’ their organization. This is soft-selling in a ‘professional sense’.

Last but not least is NETWORK MARKETING SALES. This is a very diversified field of selling where you learn how to do most of the topics we discussed earlier. A NETWORK MARKETING SALES PROFESSIONAL must understand direct sales, do some telemarketing, could do some professional speaking, and travel locally and internationally. They must learn how to manage people efficiently as they may have sales teams across the country or overseas. Most of these professionals understand the use of all technology available such as email, voice mail, fax on demand, international and national conference calls to communicate effectively and their incomes are residual like insurance agents but on a much larger scale. These sales people usually work out of their homes and are self-employed. Their income is ‘residual’ instead of ‘linear’ which gives many of them ‘free-time’ to enjoy more things they love to do. Fortune 100 companies are now involved in the distribution of product through network marketing distribution sales forces.

Choosing a network marketing company becomes rather difficult and most individuals looking into this type of sales should know how to correctly pick a company. I have a CD entitled, “NETWORK YOUR WAY INTO RETIREMENT” that gives you the guidelines needed to make the right choices in choosing a company.

I believe sales is the last bastion of free enterprise. It doesn’t matter if you are a recent college graduate, high school graduate, come from a salaried based income with no promises in site, or wanting to start a new career and tired of your old one….or possibly retired and wanting to stay busy and earn an additional income……..SALES IS FOR YOU! It doesn’t matter what your nationality is, your age, level of education, your gender or your weight……….there is a place somewhere for you in sales. I strongly believe your financial rewards and emotional rewards can be far greater than anything you’ve ever experienced. The wonderful thing about sales is that you can be mentored and trained by ‘experienced successful professionals’ and you can start part-time almost anywhere and in many cases be paid according to your work ethic.

Sure sales can be challenging…………but isn’t life challenging? Over a long period of time, however, the rewards can be outstanding…….the personal growth is something you can’t buy……It is a different but a ‘fun’ life……if you like people and are willing to learn how to be the best you can be.

Join the ranks of the sales professional part-time or full-time. A whole new world will open up for you!

KEEP PUNCHING!