What do you do if you're considering a sales career later in life?

Sales requires a unique blend of personality traits, interpersonal skills, and resilience to overcome challenges. So, whether you're considering sales as a fresh career choice or later in life, it's essential to reflect on your aptitude for building relationships, networking, and maintaining trust. While the energy aspect might differ with age, experience and wisdom can also play significant roles in navigating the complexities of sales. Ultimately, success in sales often comes down to passion, dedication, and the ability to continuously learn and adapt to new challenges, regardless of when you embark on the journey."

I would agree with all the suggestions provided. In addition, once you have determined the area of expertise you will pursue I would suggest the following: -Get very clear of your goals -Set a schedule you will do consistently -Really listen to your potential clients needs and identify how you can help them -Don’t forget to ask for the business

The mindset of a person plays a crucial role in their career. I believe sales skills are relevant across many professions, although some specific skills might differ. Before starting my sales career, I worked as a blasting engineer, where I was responsible for mobilizing machinery and labour. This job helped me understand machinery and customer needs from end user ends , it enhanced my interpersonal skills, and improved my communication abilities. While it wasn't a sales job, from another perspective, increasing the productivity of company assets involves selling services to generate profits. Therefore, starting a sales career later in life isn't a significant challenge if you effectively leverage your previous experience to succeed.

Sales profession need a combination of brilliant communication skills, excellent knowledge about machinery (be it nomenclature, parts, sops, working conditions etc) and a huge courage to face the opposition. I feel no need to point that vision and optimism are key in this profession. So, for me if sales profession is the ultimate aim, first spend sometime (may be at least 2-3 years) in operations.

Networking is quite possibly the most important aspect in a successful sales career. Sure, you need technical and product knowledge. Sure, you need relationships. The best networkers get out there to help solve other people's problems, and to help other people's businesses grow. They aren't just looking for clients and looking for a quick sale. When you are truly motivated to help other people grow, it will always come back around to you in the end.

Your past experience can be an absolute gold mine for a new sales role later in life. It doesn't even matter if it's not in the same industry, and to some extent, it's better if it's not. A fresh perspective and new way of looking at things is needed and warranted in many sales jobs where the focus on prospecting and landing customers can become very monotonous. Understanding and experience from a completely different field or industry can help give you an edge and set you apart from other competitors because of fresh tactics.

Considering a sales career later in life can be a rewarding and fulfilling decision. Here are some steps to help you transition into a sales career at a later stage: 1. Increase your self-discipline 2. Get over your fear of the competition 3. Discover your buyer's needs deeply and meaningfully - know your customer 4. Become more resourceful 5. Learn to pre-handle their top objections as it relates to your products, services, or widgets 6. Get to the decision-makers 7. Become a personal brand - become an authority 8. Build a powerful social media presence - valuable content 9. Read Zig Ziglar, Robert Cialdini, Richard Bayan, Ogilvy, The baron letters, Eugene Schwartz, Joseph Sugarman, Paul Arden, Bob Bly