I have had some sales experience in my life so far. Most of it has not actually been selling myself, but has helped me irregardless. I’ve received my experience through my dad with his sales position. I’ve been lucky enough to go with him and see first hand some of what he does. There are a couple things that I’ve learned.
1. It’s a lot of give and take. One way that my dad has been able to do many of the things he enjoys, is getting things done at work when other people may not be working. Some of this includes driving on a Sunday morning before church to make one last delivery. Other includes restocking a truck until 8 o’clock at night. There is also being able to do work on a so-called vacation. All of this is one of those things some people don’t notice but helps keep you sane by doing things that you love.
2. It’s about the people. I don’t mean to brag but my dad is a people person. He’s very good at managing relationships. He learned this early in his sales career and has kept it throughout til now. One of the best ways I can put it is in a story. He had a great relationship with a store owner when he was a salesman for Sara Lee. He was able to use that relationship to get his new company back in to the owner’s store with their products. He was able to use the relationship he had created to add value to the company in a way nobody else could’ve done. He had put the owner first so many times before, that the owner was able to reciprocate the favor for him at another company, even many years later.
3. It’s never the same. You can always sell the same products to the same customers and so on. But, even with that things change. The company can always drop you or vice versa. It’s something you have to be aware of as a salesperson. No matter what, you always have to sell yourself and the company on new things and concepts. You also have to sell them on the fact they need to keep you. There is always something changing and everyone needs to change and be ready for it.
I know some of this is not new knowledge, but it is stuff that I have learned basically on the job. It’s things I can use in my own life in the future, and even outside of sales. Hope it can help someone else as well.
BoweryJE22
I definitely agree that finding time to work when everyone else is off is a great strategy. I’m glad your dad has found so much success that way and can still find time to get to work. A lot of the time it seems that people are unable to find the right balance between workaholism and lazy. I think the best way is to determine the things that just aren’t worth missing for work and then maximizing your time around those things.
Putting in the extra work when others aren’t is definitely an advantage! Staying late to get ahead of your competitors will pay off in the end… Learning things on the job is usually the best way to learn anything!