Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I agree with the earlier post....you have to find something you really like to do and am passionate about.  I have been in sales for 35 years, mostly owning my own businesses (which means you have to know how to sell) and I have owned 5 different businesses over the years.  After a degree in marketing, I took a Dale Carnegie sales course that taught me more in 16 weeks than 4 years of college....and today they really focus on Relationship Selling.  Read Mahan Khalsa's "Lets Get Real or Let's Not Play". 

The other advice I would give is, find something that pays residual dividends, whether it is real estate, insurance (which is not recommended today) or products that you can sell to the same clients over and over.  I have a buddy that has been in the light bulb business in Las Vegas for 20 years.  And many of his early customers are still with him.... he knocks down about $260K in commissions, and 75% is from repeat clients. 

Should you decide to go into the landscape (since you have a start) business as a career....go commercial landscape and maintenance.  The repetitive busines is there and large accounts are ongoing.  Another buddy of mine is doing over 5 Mil a year in Commercial landscaping after 6 years....and making a nice living... it may not be the sexiest business there is...but his new Porsche is :)

Good Luck and good selling!!!

Steve Davidson (doing what he loves)!

http://www.cynergysoftware.com/ticketing-software

A lot of people opt to sell medicine to doctors (med reps), while others sell home appliances or electronics. However, if you are looking to improve your skills as a sales agent, I suggest that you try your hand at selling insurance. As we all know, insurance is one of the hardest services to sell because of its bad rep, but if you can develop the skills needed to sell insurance, I'm sure you will succeed in being a great salesman.

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Long Term Care Insurance Alabama

AT&T has several sales jobs open, maybe look into some of their business solutions jobs.

Types of sales jobs they have are:

I think a current great sales opportunity is in assisted living related sales jobs. Check out some available positions at Emeritus Senior Living to see types of sales positions available in this industry.

Sell solar installations.  We've made a ton of money just by meeting our neighbors here in Goleta, CA and setting them up with solar companies...it's like $5 per person who converts for a sometimes $40K solar installation!  Big bucks.

Chris...  sales is really a very broad field e.g., Business Development, Solution Selling, Consultative Selling, Transactional Sales, Lead Generation (Inside Sales), Direct Sales, Distributor Sales, and more.  Each has its own approach, goals, and complexities.  Whether you market to B2B or B2C will have its own challenges as well.

I’ve been doing Consultative Selling for a fortune 100 company for several years; it has its rewards, but can be extremely stressful most of the time.

My suggestion to you is not to overlook the obvious – you already have a business; why not grow it?  If you think you have good sales abilities then put it to the test and go after more business for yourself. Definitely go after commercial business if you haven’t already – that’s where the money is.  You can think about selling your business at some point in the future, but if you’re really successful then think about franchising it.

I think jewellery wholesale is a big market, you can go to our web site and see http://www.casjewellery.com

Go with what you know.  If you're into landscaping and know it well, I'd suggest staying in that field and start working with wholesalers of tools you're familiar with and sell for them.  It's a great way to get out of a labour position but remain in your comfort zone.  You'll soon make new connections with other sales reps and get an idea of what other options are out there.

I used to think that real estate sales were the place to be but now I think that pharmaceutical sales are much more lucrative. Once I'm done selling a few atlanta real estate units, I will probably switch to the pharmaceutical industry.