Table of Contents

	The Job Nobody Dreams Of...
	FREE Instant e-Book Version So Why Am I Giving It Away?

Let me tell you why I wrote this book. If I can be so bold, this book might be one of the most important books you will ever read. I’ve spent the better part of my adult life working with career development issues, i.e. recruiting, training and the message that I have developed – the approach I preach about sales careers - has never been done before and it is extremely important to a couple groups of people!  

The first group is obviously individuals who are having trouble finding a GOOD job. There are plenty of work opportunities for someone who has been laid off or downsized from a well paying job, but whether these jobs offer the pay and benefits people have previously enjoyed is a whole other story. There are all kinds of stories out there about someone who was making $80,000 a year who is now working in customer service or doing yard work. This isn’t the situation these people were dreaming about when they got out of school.

My message is important because jobs define who we are, how we feel about ourselves and even how we act around family and friends. One of the most surprising points I discovered in my book research is not only the length of time that it takes a lot of people to finally get another job (an average of 6+ months) - but that a lot of people have literally given up looking for work altogether. Some of them started their own business – others are trying to get by on their spouses salary and still others have had to resort to moving back in with their parents.

While sales is not for everybody – just like being an accountant or welder isn’t for everyone – there is a certain percentage of individuals that would respond to this message.

Presented in the right way…we can get pass peoples preconceived notions about sales and sales careers and make them understand that this might be the one field that can give them the pay, benefits and self-respect that they used to enjoy.

The other group that is impacted by this message is business owners and sales managers who are savvy enough to understand what is going on and want to take advantage of this opportunity and tap into a talent pool that has never before been available.

This pool of candidates have been successful in other fields and have developed a great work ethic, time management skills, listening skills and the ability to ask questions that can easily transfer to sales.

 Sales Myths

One of the reasons that the “perception” of sales careers isn’t always great is due to a couple of myths that have perpetuated over the years about salespeople. Let’s blow the lid off these and expose the fraud:

You may have heard someone referred to as a “born salesperson.” Even though this term is often used to describe a very successful salesperson, no one is a born salesperson. Selling is a learned skill just like anything else, be it sports, welding, surgery…whatever. An individual may possess some of the attributes of a good salesperson (being a great listener for instance) but it takes training and practice to become successful.

Is there one particular personality type that is better suited for a sales career? Simply put…no! People want to purchase from individuals they can trust. When you’re selling, regardless of the product or service, you are selling yourself first (Isn’t that what you do in a job interview?). Customers don’t care about the background or history of the person who calls on them. They DO CARE that whoever they are dealing with can demonstrate the ability to take care of them. Quite often introverts do a better job listening then extroverts and listening to what the customer wants and/or needs is vital to sales success.

Professional selling isn’t about persuasion. Selling is about understanding the customer’s problems and solving them. Selling involves the art of communicating effectively with people. In the past, salespeople were successful just by communicating to customers the value of their product or service. You had an amazing mousetrap; you communicated what’s so great about your mousetrap and made the sale.

This doesn’t work anymore for two reasons. First, products are no longer unique. Your mousetrap has become one of seventeen different ways to kill mice. The customer is no longer interested in hearing about how your mousetrap is different, all they want to know is can you give them dead mice.

The other reason the old way of selling doesn’t work anymore is the Internet. If all you are doing is communicating to customers the value of what you have - if all you are is a talking brochure - you’re outdated. Customers who want to know about products can pull information off the Internet more quickly and more easily than having a salesperson tell them.

Today’s successful salespeople ask questions – they focus on the problem or opportunity – NOT on their product or service. In this advisory role there is no room for the fancy close, the hard sell or other manipulative selling techniques. Professional salespeople get positioned as business equals with their clients.

I’m sure that being a “salesperson” never occurred to you before, but guess what? It never occurred to any of the thousands of other people who currently earn a great living selling either. I guarantee you that when they were in high school talking to their friends about what they were going to do once they graduated…“being a salesperson” never came up.

If you are tired of layoffs and competing with hundreds of other people for a single opening…consider sales. If the job market in your current industry is stacked against you due to education, experience or age considerations, why wouldn’t you check out a career in sales?

Take this opportunity to check out a career that you never thought about before. Think about…”The Job Nobody Dreams of.”

If you have any questions or comments feel free to email me at bill@thejobnobodydreamsof.com.
 

	The Job Nobody Dreams Of...
	FREE Instant e-Book Version So Why Am I Giving It Away?