Whether you’re a seasoned professional working in a technical sales position or just starting your sales career, it’s essential to understand the importance of getting the right sales experience.
In this blog, we’ll cover what counts as sales experience, what employers look for, and the types of sales jobs rookies can land without a decorated resume.
What is sales experience?
Sales experience is your personal history of convincing others to purchase goods and services. On a more general level, it may also include any convincing you’ve done for someone else to invest or take action. For example, job interviews are a great way to practice sales skills because you’re, in essence, trying to sell yourself as a potential employee.
For many, the first thing to come to mind when considering sales experience is door-to-door sales. Have you ever sold Scout Cookies? Although you may have been young then, this is an excellent example of real-world sales experience.
However, most employers don't seek this type of informal experience without sales skills training when hiring their team.
In this article, we’ll go over what counts as sales experience and how to get sales jobs without any experience under your belt.
Why Sales Experience Matters
Having sales experience on your resume means you understand the position and show a hunger for more. Sales jobs are difficult, so wanting to go at it again proves you have perseverance and tenacity.
Sales experience teaches many desirable traits, including:
- Self-discipline
- Mental fortitude
- Negotiation skills
How to Get Your First Sales Experience
Sales experience comes in two forms: real-world sales job experience and sales training.
The main difference between these two is that you’ll get paid for your time in unskilled sales jobs, while you’ll have to pay out of pocket for sales training. Both are valid entry points to the sales career path, but it’s recommended that you use a combination of the two.
Starting from the Bottom
Entry-level sales positions are a dime a dozen. They’re actually much more accessible to land than you’d think because many companies all over the world hire sales representatives who have little to no experience. This is typical because people without experience haven’t built up any bad habits and can be molded into the organization’s sales team vision more quickly.
The downside to this is that you’ll likely be paid poorly or on a commission-only basis. If you’re in a pinch for money, this can be highly stressful and frustrating, so be sure to manage your expectations going into the role.
Another option is to take up an internship at a firm that’s within your desired field of specialization. You’ll get valuable insight into the sales funnel, a relevant notch on your CV, and powerful mentorship.
Internships are common in B2B sales environments and have varying job titles, including:
- Sales Intern
- Junior Account Executive
- Sales Development Representative (SDR)
Sales Training Programs
If you want a regimented schedule or need to get sales experience quickly, paying for a sales training program might be the way to go for you. You can either look for sales negotiation organizations with local training or seek out online sales training from platforms like HubSpot Academy.
Whichever route you choose, there are 5 key aspects of sales that every training program should cover in-depth:
- Needs Discovery: Identifying client needs is a crucial aspect of success in sales. Understanding prospects empowers you to position your products as the solution to their needs.
- Building Rapport: Knowing how to build rapport means you can build relationships with prospects, deepening their trust in you and your organization.
- Handling Objections: No matter how skilled you are, people will have objections to your product, even if it’s a perfect fit for them. Proper training allows you to use insights to overcome their objections.
- Sales Prospecting: Effective prospecting creates systems for the organization to sustain its sales pipelines. This means they can spend their time where it’s most effective: on prospects likely to convert.
- Sales Negotiation: Sales negotiations go both ways. The seller and the buyer both try to negotiate better positions. Training helps you find the middle ground more easily, creating win-win scenarios for both sides.
Types of Sales Jobs You Can Get Into Without Any Experience
As we mentioned earlier, many sales organizations are more than willing to hire inexperienced salespeople because they can teach them from scratch.
The more technical a product or service is, the less likely sales management is to hire fledgling sales representatives because it requires more strenuous training and education to close deals.
There are 4 main types of sales positions you can work in without any formal sales experience:
Cold Sales Positions
Cold sales positions are roles where you’re contacting individuals who haven’t expressed interest in a company, usually via email or phone call. Cold sales is a highly difficult field to work in, with a 2% industry average close rate, so it’s largely a numbers game where even untrained sales reps can make deals with perseverance.
If you call 100 businesses and just 2 of them end up clients, that’s still 2 sales for the organization at the end of the day.
Cold sales teams perform best when they leverage technology like Instantly’s cold email suite. Instantly can help management find cold leads to contact, manage communications in its CRM, and monitor sales representatives’ performance with in-depth analytics.
Retail Sales Positions
Retail sales are B2C (business to consumer) positions where you sell goods and services to the general public. While this usually entails working in a store in person, it could also mean doing online sales for an eCommerce company.
Working a retail sales position is often a minimum-wage job, but teaches you valuable skills like customer service, identifying customer needs, and handling objections.
One main advantage of retail sales is that you can work part-time or seasonal positions. You can easily pair this job with your education, whether that’s a sales training program or getting a bachelor’s degree.
Internal Sales Positions
Working in an internal sales (inside sales) position is a great opportunity for people without sales experience. Many organizations take on the initiative of hiring from within because it’s cheaper than hiring externally and improves employee retention.
If you work at a company with its own sales department, be on the lookout for internal job postings or ask management about potential openings.
Commission-Based Sales Positions
Commission-based sales jobs are possibly the least desirable of the 4 types of entry-level jobs.
You won’t get paid an hourly wage or a set salary, but at least you’ll receive sales training and have all the tools you’ll need to make some sales. In this type of role, you only get paid commissions when you successfully close a deal.
While it’s a tough job to earn money consistently when you’re starting out, the hours are often flexible, and you can easily keep a part-time position while getting a degree or going through a paid sales training program. With enough deals closed, you could also use this as a stepping stone job to get a B2B sales job that pays hourly and commissions.
How to Get B2B Sales Experience
Many would argue that B2B sales are much more difficult (and therefore higher paying) than B2C sales. This is because the sales cycle is typically longer, more complex, and involves multiple decision-makers. For example, selling an enterprise software solution to a business is more strenuous than your typical retail sales position.
Breaking into B2B sales is more difficult than the 4 entry-level positions we outlined earlier.
The most straightforward path is to get a bachelor’s degree and, after graduation, apply for SDR positions in SaaS sales departments. SaaS companies, especially early-stage ones, are more willing to take on sales staff that don’t have experience but are willing to put in tremendous efforts.
The work usually entails lead generation via cold email or using LinkedIn DMs and passing them on to account executives. They’ll mentor you in your sales journey, teaching you the ropes as you fine-tune your lead prospecting in collaboration with them.
Key Takeaways
Sales experience is necessary for landing high-paying positions with benefits, bonuses, and strong commissions.
To get your first taste of sales experience, you can either start from a bottom-level job or you can pay for a sales training course that teaches you the ins and outs of successful sales skills.
You can apply for a few entry-level positions without experience, but the best way to move up the ladder is by working in cold sales. You’ll use cold email platforms like Instantly to generate leads, manage relationships, and monitor your progress along the way.
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