To be really successful in your new role will take time; your career in selling is a marathon not a 100 yard sprint. To run a marathon successfully you need to set smaller goals along the way so you can monitor your progress and not just focus on the finishing line. In your new career it is the same focusing on just the big money you intend to make (the finishing line) you need to set your self achievable goals along the way. Keeping in mind that it will take you some time to become proficient with the new skills you need to develop it will help manage your own expectations.

Review our article on goal setting for some tips or discuss it with your line manager for help on setting motivating achievable goals.

Get a hobby

There are some people who take a job in sales because it’s easy to get in! You do not need to go to college or university to get a job and earn good money. They enter direct to see if they have got what it takes to be a successful as if having the ability to sell is some ethereal, ghostlike quality you have either got or you haven’t.

The truth of the matter is most people have the basic communication skills needed to be a good sales person. It is a skill, like any other, which can be measured, learnt and improved upon by applying your self. The trouble is that too many sales people spend little or no time improving and developing their sales skills.

Our second piece of advice is: let selling become your hobby.  What do we mean? Do you know any one who has a hobby, say playing golf or gardening? Their hobby is something they are genuinely interested and they spend time finding out more information on what they love. They read books, watch programmes on it, search the internet and talk about it with like minded people.

You are now a professional communicator. The amount of money you make is dependent on the words that will come out of your mouth, your communication skills and how well you can demonstrate your sales skills, so be interested to find out more and become an expert in your field by:

Reading books, listening to CD's in your car, join websites, talk to your Manager and other successful sales people, read magazines, keep a note book on all the new things you learn and practice them in the field. 

Success in sales is no accident you need to work at it.  Commit to spending some time every day learning new things and you are well on the way to making your dreams come true.

Look out for the colour yellow

Look around the room you are sat in. Slowly move your head around the room and try to notice as many different things in the room, which are brown.  Once you have done that, close your eyes and try to recall as many items as you can that are yellow.

That is the power of focus. Even though there are items that are brown and yellow, our brain just picked out the brown ones because we asked it to.  Our brain is an amazing muscle. It contains highly developed filter systems, which we can use to filter and focus on information or facts we want to collect.

Unfortunately, these filter systems can be used for both positive and negative effects. In your new career who will experience both positive and negative events in your day to day lives. Whichever one you focus on will determine whether you succeed or fail.

Our third piece of advice is to focus on the positive events you experience every day. If you do have some negative feedback don't keep churning it over in your head, forget it.   Reward and celebrate your success, remember the good skilful sales you made, concentrate on the positive feedback you receive, take time to congratulate your self every time you reach a goal Keep a success diary which lists all the positive things you accomplish and read it daily.

Have you ever bought a new car and as you drive it around you notice your car model in the same colour driving around everywhere. Obviously those cars have always been around; you just never noticed them before. It is just the same with whatever you decide to focus every day, the positive or negative.  By looking out and focusing on the positives you will start to see them everywhere. Your brain will do all the work for you. You will be happier, more positive and more productive.

We wish the best of luck to you all. Click here to read our next article.