Sales Rep 101 – Chapter 8

First Months in Sales

So you have decided to work in Sales. That is awesome! If you have the skills that it takes and you work hard to get better then you make a great income. But there is an ugly truth about the sales world. Especially if you are just starting out. And that is that most companies do not have your best interest at heart. Now, you can says this about almost any company but this is especially true in sales. Let me explain.

Good sales people are hard to find. That’s why if you make it in sales and even have average success you will always be able to find a job. It may not always be what you want but you can find one. And because of this companies are always looking for sales people. But because good ones are hard to find they will often take chances on sales reps with little or no experience. This is where it gets ugly. During your initial interview if a company thinks you have any skills and are coachable they will offer you the job. However, they will start to sell you on the company and how much money you can make. I have been in sale for over 30 years and have had many sales jobs and almost everyone of them over promised what they can offer. But they are desperate so unfortunately that will flat out lie to you. You can find a great article on Interviewing on my website at SalesRep101.com

Okay, so you took the job. Now what? The first thing you need to do is to sit down with your boss and ask detailed questions about your job, your expectations, and what the timeline is before you can expect to make money. Most sales positions are commission based which means you don’t get paid until you sell something. After you start selling how you get paid can be different with each company so make sure you understand exactly how that process works.

Most companies will start you out on what is called a guarantee which is just a set amount of money each month like a salary for the first 3-6 months. You don’t need to pay that back but you need to be up an running making commission by the end of that time.

This is where it can get tricky. That’s because depending on what you are selling it may take a few months to get paid your commission. And if you are in In-Home sales selling high ticket items and you are waiting on installation it can be more than a couple of months. This is why it is so important to ask detailed questions in the beginning so you are not caught off guard when it comes time to getting paid. I can’t tell you how many times what I thought was going to happen was not how it actually worked. And believe me…that is not good.

Wow, that all sounded pretty negative. Let’s talk about the positives of a sales job. After you first start and you have been in sales for a few weeks or maybe even a month you will know if you are going to like sales. And in my experience you either love sales or your hate sales. There is really no grey area here. And if you decide that you love sales then you will need to game plan for the first year. Because in most sales jobs it is going to take a while before you can start to make good money. Some jobs get you there quicker than others, but for the most part it will take some time. That’s because in the beginning you are learning the product or service and learning the companies pitch. And if you are brand new to selling you will need to learn the ins and outs of just sales. And this could take months before you are even ready to start calling on customers. Let me give you an example.

Advertising sales managers are probably the biggest culprits of not being up front about how long it takes to make money. I had been in sales for a few years but was looking for a change. So I decided on advertising sales. I found a company that I thought was a great fit and my manager sold me on what I could make and how long that would take. They offered a 3 month guarantee before it went to a commission with a small draw. You can learn more about a draw at SalesRep101.com too. In advertising sales usually it will be a mix of current customers that you will take care of and then you bringing on some new customers. What he forgot to tell me was that he didn’t have a plan on what customers I would be taking care of which would be a big part of my monthly commission. After a few months I realized that because he didn’t have a plan he was going to have to piece together a few customers and I would be responsible for bringing in new clients for the majority of my commission. If you have ever been in sales you know that cold calling and bringing on new customers is the hardest part of the job. I was so pissed. So needless to say it was only about 6 months into the job when I had to take another job.

This is a good example of not asking enough detailed questions to make sure the opportunity was going to be there. In sales you are never guaranteed anything but you at least need the opportunity to succeed. If you feel like that is not possible then it may be time for a change.

So if you like your job and you can see that the opportunity is there then make a plan and don’t give up just yet. It may take 6 months to a year to start making the money that you want but if you make a plan and are not surprised then once you make it to the other side you will be happy that you stuck it out.