Sales Career Resources

Sales is a very huge and varied concept. Having a strong Sales department is crucial for the success of any business because it is only through this team, the company is going to attain its profit, carry out operations, pay its employees and expand its growth. The Sales sector is responsible for making or breaking a business. Sales are not only crucial for business growth, but it is also needed for fostering relationships with existing customers, as the ultimate function of the sales is to maintain relationships with customers and give them a personal touch of happiness. Hence the key to the success of any company is mainly through Effective Sales. And to help you out we’ve provided some Sales Career Resources in this article.

Brian Tracy – Author and motivational speaker has rightly described sales as the – “Ultimate Default Career”. When he said this, he means that lots and lots of people pick a Career in Sales over other Careers as they are of the opinion that a career in sales is rewarding and pays well. Yet, when you ask a top sales professional or a Sales CEO, the version would be different, as they are of the opinion that it is not just the earning potential, but several other reasons that made them pursue a career in this line.

Detailed Guide on Sales Career Resources

Table of Contents

1. Career Resources For Sales Professionals
2. Organizations And Associations Resources For Sales Professionals
3. Books References For Sales Career
4. Digital Resources
5. Sales Resume Samples

What is Sales Job-like

Essentially sales jobs mean making sales through one way or the other, and you are trying to sell a product or service to the customers on behalf of the entity. But in a real-world situation, this activity is just 1% of what actually happens in this field. There are a variety of roles within the sales sector and the daily schedule and responsibilities vary widely based on the job title the person works for.

Career Resources For Sales Professionals

Sales jobs are incredibly varied, right from a sales representative job to an advanced position, the sales jobs come in different flavors. While some roles may fit best your career goals and personality, many other positions may necessitate a high level of skills and qualifications, that you may not possess.

Rather than learning through direct experience, you can alternatively use this comprehensive guide to learn exactly what each position encompasses, and how to pick the one right for you.

For better understanding and to know how to make a career in the Sales field, stroll through the following sites –

Themuse.com – Want to know how a career path of sales would be? Interested in the sales domain? The Muse.com site is a unique website that provides all details relating to a sales job. The website gives a list of some common sales job types.
Tenfold.com – Tenfold is a sales blog that describes the sales profession in detail. From how to make a sales career to gaining knowledge from experts, the website covers all aspects of the domain and connects to various resources sites such as customers, partners, blogs, and forums.
Thebalancecareers.com – Balance Career enlightens readers on the scope of a career in sales, and why you should consider taking up this line! The website provides information on the earning potential, sales career outlook, job searching facilities, and highly paid sales jobs.
Robertwalters-usa.com – Learn and hear some real-time news from Erica Alioto. She explains her experiences, pros, and cons of the job and talks about how we can use sales resources available in the digital market today to enhance job prospects.
Business2community.com – Business to the community is a dedicated site for enhancing sales management. The article talks about the benefits of a career in sales and the benefits that a person can enjoy being in the sales line.
Inc.com – Want to make it big in the sales domain, but not interested in typical class-room education, then visit this site. You don’t always need a business school background to shine in this field. The author talks about five top tips that can help you shine in this line.
Learnhowtobecome.org – Learn how to become is a platform, which connects students with various colleges and educational resources for their sales and business career path. In addition, the site also gives a brief note of various job options and career fields available within the sales domain.
Collegegrad.com – Collegegrad.com is one of the famous and oldest websites that target on enlightening aspirants with needed resources. The publication includes everything concerned about the sales industry. The article covers various available sales occupations, degrees needed, and job-search advice.
Blog.closeriq.com – Now you have decided to enter the sales profession, but not sure of which area to take or which specialization to opt for? Then, this site will help you in this decision-making process. The website covers various topics including – sales operations, selling strategies, training, and many such more.
Allaboutcareers.com – Want to know all about the sales and marketing career? The All About Career is the best platform to get all such information. Follow the site to know what does a sales career looks like, how media sales are different from a career in media, and what qualities are needed to become a successful media salesperson.

Sales Career Path

A Career in Sales need not be linear, there are different sales career paths that one can take, based on the skills, education, and experience possessed by the Aspirants. A sales job offers tremendous benefits such as – work flexibility, the ability to shape-shift career, and outstanding earning potential. Skilled sales professionals are always in steady demand, and making a career path in sales is a sure bet for job seekers.

And if you are an aspirant seeking to pursue a career in sales, then you should surely know that more than your academic qualification, your success in the field will basically depend on your skills, attributes and work experience. And, having the right personality traits for sales can have a major impact on your career ladder and salary.

Saying merely a sales career will seem to be a vague description, there are actually countless job titles in the Sales industry and the success indicator lies in understanding the difference between the sales jobs and where to apply the skills best. To identify which position you are best at can be a daunting process, as there are nuances for each role, such as experience level, skill, and educational requirements. Immaterial of whether you are starting your fresh into this field, or you are making a transition from some other sector, it is crucial for you to understand first that there are innumerable jobs within this sector and you should become familiar with the responsibilities attached with each of these roles.

Again, there are various industry titles for each job in this domain, and the job which you are applying for must not be the job kind you actually want. To help you understand better of your sales career choices, we have listed some of the horizons the domain covers –

Medical Sales
Insurance Sales
Software Sales
Sales Representatives
Inside Sales
Outside Sales
B2B or B2C
Account Management
Account Executive

Education Resources For Sales Career

A huge reason why many do not consider education as the main criterion for entering or growing in the sales career is due to the factor that selling is different from industry and industry. Selling software products is not the same as selling medical equipment. Door-to-door canvassing to sell the company’s product will not even need a degree, but on the other hand, building a strong platform to become a billion-dollar industry needs a certain level of education and expertise. Negotiation, communication, and strong interpersonal skills are often regarded as the main attributes for excelling in the sales career. Whether it is a sale over the phone or sales through face-to-face, a salesperson should be equipped with knowledge pertinent to the product or services they are handling. While some professionals gain skills with experience, many others receive the needed training on-the-job. However, large companies these days demand a certain level of education based on the offered job roles.

Job seekers who prefer to be on the road instead of working in a typical cubicle environment find the sales career as an attractive one than other jobs within the fields of marketing, business, and advertising. Sales representatives visit clients personally, communicate with them, and negotiate contracts mostly over the phone or email. But in some cases, they should participate in meetings with the advertising or marketing teams to ensure alignment of the company’s goals and objectives. Whatever the sales segment maybe, those working on the sales side be it an independent entrepreneur or a business owner, possessing theoretical and practical knowledge is highly valuable to work within their market. Success in this domain requires the ability to handle challenges, strong networking skills, good time management skills, and a drive for sales.

Whether you are just beginning your career in the Sales sector or you are looking forward to enhancing your career prospects, we have given below some of the comprehensive set of sales career resources that can set you up for success –

Pearson.com – It is said that most of the successful sales representatives are from the Pearson. Join Pearson to change the way you want to learn things and to make a career in sales. Higher Ed sales representatives play a crucial role in training and educating customers. Through this program, students can learn how to tackle challenging situations in reality.
Study.com – Want to become a Sales Manager? Then, Study.com is the best site for it. Students and job aspirants can refer to this site to get all information pertaining to the sales field. From education requirements to top schools, and jobs, the site provides dedicated career information.
Thebestschools.org – This career page is dedicated solely by the bestshcool.org for providing specific information about the nature of sales work, required training, education, salary, and much more. You can browse all the information and decide which sales career will suit you the best.
Businessinsider.com – Business Insider is a platform that guides students who want to pursue a career in sales. The author gives detailed information on the educational requirements needed for a sales career.
Salesfoundation.org – SEF provides a career development program. On learning this, the sales students are able to identify their potentials, strengths, weakness, and focus on the job. The site also helps the viewers to navigate their career landscape page.
Bestdegreeprograms.org – The best degree program will help you to learn how to make a career in sales. This is a great resource to perfect your educational skills. Although it’s aimed at the salespeople, it can also be useful for those who are new to sales and want to learn how a retail and wholesale sales job will look like.
Careerwise.minnstate.edu – Minnesota State Career-wise is a dedicated platform for searching for sales jobs. Job seekers can narrow down their search using keywords pertaining to their sales-specific titles and the state they want to work in. There is a career in marketing, sales, and service for every person over here.
Udemy.com – The entity offers knowledge and education to beginners and refreshers who want to pursue a career in sales. This sales course will teach students the essential skills and mindset needed to succeed in this career and also on how to add value to their clients.
Coursera.org – Coursera along with the support of the University of Michigan provides an exclusive online sales course. Successful negotiation: essential strategies and skills course will train and help you in gaining skills such as – strategic negotiation, communication, negotiation, and decision tree.
Alison.com – Alison provides the online sales course titled – Effective Communication and Sales techniques, using which the students will be able to learn as to how to prepare effective sales presentations as a means to sell their business vision to investors and clients.
Aa-isp.org – AA-ISPP offers the professional CISP program which is mainly useful for the sales executives and the account managers. If you already have a CSDR degree, then you can opt for the CISP certification. View program details, coursework covered, and many more by becoming a member over here.
Nasp.com – National Association of Sales Professionals offers the certified professional salesperson – CPSP program. This program is uniquely designed to transform a salesman into a top performer in sales.
Academy.hubspot.com – If business means the world to you, then you to visit this website. You can enhance your career by completing free certifications and also list in your LinkedIn profile various industry-recognized badges. Join the hub spot academy and get certified today.
Amanet.org – American Management Association offers sales management training programs. On learning this program, one can use better selling techniques to succeed in their career.
Qwikresume.com – Decided to enter into the field of Sales, but lack in writing an effective Resume. Qwik Resume is a dedicated site that concentrates on how to write an effective resume for your sales job. Refer to thousands of templates listed over here.

Women In Sales

Women these days are very comfortable working for any industry. Previously, it was considered that a career in Sales is only for the Men folks as it had a lot of roaming work and a high level of pressuring responsibilities. But women in technology is the hot topic now and they are dominating the sales field as much as the men do.

The following sales career resources give insight and things to know about women who have made it big in this Sales sector –

Conductor.com – The article explains how women have succeeded in this sales career in spite of male dominance.
Badgermapping.com – The website details how women have conquered the sales sector and why women working in sales is important for the organization.
Womeninsaleseverywhere.com – This is a unique website that concentrates on developing women in this field. It develops the next generation of female sales leaders.
Yesware.com – The article exhibits live statistics of Women’s share in sales success and trends.

Organizations And Associations Resources For Sales Professionals

Sales Organizations and Associations comprise of students, working professionals, and highly educated persons who work together with a common motive of helping and supporting the sales community. All these organizations coordinate their skills, education, experience to bring the desired result of supporting their class people. Beyond the network of co-workers, friends and business associates, it is highly crucial for the sales professionals to become a member of the sales-focused organizations or associations for maximizing their careers, as these entities provide training, guidance, and support in the right direction.

And apart from that, joining is such organizations will allow the members to tap into the collective knowledge of professionals working within the industry. These associations are highly useful for students who want to pursue a career in sales after their graduation. Membership into such organizations means the privilege to attend workshops for free, education opportunities at reduced costs, freedom to attend all networking events, and staying current with the latest news and trends. Marketing professionals who are already in this career should also consider joining such associations as the sales industry is rapidly changing and moving ahead. But the next crucial decision is – “Which organization or association is best for this?”

The best way is to explore the top-rated organizations that promise to deliver the requirements you are seeking for. To make this process simpler for you, we have hand-picked certain best sales career resources sites that deliver such services –

Aa-isp.org – AAISP – The American Association of Inside Sales Professional is an organization that focuses on those who are interested in an inside sales career. Inside sales are popular among both who are new to sales and those who are already well settled in their sales profession.
Salesnetwork.org – National Sales network is an organization that strives to meet the professional and development needs of sales and sales management professionals. Become a member of the NSN and get the opportunity to participate in webinars and free conferences.
Smei.org – Sales and Marketing Executives International is an entity that concentrates on only global sales and marketing professionals. On membership over here, you are sure to take your marketing and sales career to new heights.
Salesassociation.org – The Sales Association is a professional entity that provides networking and professional development mainly for the corporate level sales professionals. The association is solely dedicated to the sales team and individual sales performance improvement.
Salesmanagement.org – Sales Management Association is dedicated to rendering career-relevant content for the sales professionals and leaders. The entity offers free content and members-only content. Membership over here entitles to participate in conferences, educational resources, and plenty of other benefits.
Smei.associationcareernetwork.com – SMEI offers plenty of sales certification courses, and these programs are sure to take your sales career to heights. The website also has a dedicated SMEI job for various sales job titles.
Careercast.com – Just as the name suggests, the Career Cast is a platform that connects job seekers with employers. Search jobs, post your resume, and enjoy other benefits like – career advice articles and niche job networks. All newly posted jobs are listed here.
Challengerinc.com – Challenger offers training and consulting services for sales and marketing and customer service teams. Through commercial transformation programs, message creation, skill development, and implementation support, the members will be able to improve their performance and bring significant financial results.
Salesforce.com – Want some meaningful work in the sales sector? Try Salesforce. This is one of the best places to get all the details pertaining to your career in sales.
Salesforcesearch.com – Salesforce Search has partnered with some of the best industries and strives to provide job seekers the best place to work. The site helps the employers to find their best salespeople. It connects employers with job seekers.
Nasp.com – The National Association of Sales Professionals, also known as the NASP is a valuable resource for all sales professionals from all industries. The site provides a sales-only job board, a library of resources geared to sales, and how to improve weaknesses that affect sales performances.

Books References For Sales Career

Do you know Bill Gates swears by it!

Mark Cuban spends hours together on it!

Billionaire Investor Warren Buffet spends more than three hours doing it!

Yes! All these people have enhanced their career growth through reading.

Researchers have found out that Reading is a real stress-reliever, fights depression and dementia, and improves overall confidence, empathy, and life satisfaction. Not just that, reading the right books will enhance your job prospects, increase earning potential, and help you to lead a more meaningful career. While for some people, reading is for entertainment, many others consider reading to be an unparalleled source and access to learning and gain a wealth of information.

Be it a student who wants to enter into the field of sales, or a CEO of Sales, there are plenty of books that one must read to master the trade. Whether you are looking for advice on how to make a career in sales or want to see how the experts have made up in this career, there is a comprehensive list of books out right here for you to read. Being in a sales domain, clearly means one has to constantly learn new strategies and techniques that rule the market.

It is rightly said, Sales Books turn readers into leaders. Check out the following collection that we have listed for your reference. Our list comprises of the best sales books that don’t target only on a specific niche, but are compiled keeping in mind the diverse range of subsectors the Sales domain offers –

The 25 Sales Habits of Highly Successful Salespeople – Millions of people have already read it and have vouched for it. Now in this new edition, readers will be able to read new examples with the latest advances in sales presentation technology and learn how to convert the lead to sales.
Little Red Book of Selling – This book is short, sweet, and great to read as it conveys messages to the point. The book is filled with answers that people are searching for making it big in their sales career.
The Sales Acceleration Formula – The author Mark Roberge here provides a step-by-step guide on how to use data, technology, and inbound marketing to build a massive and productive sales team and bring sales to the company.
Secrets of Closing the Sale – This pioneering book puts a laser view on all key points and portrays everything closely, and also provides hundreds of examples and live illustrations.
The Best Damn Sales Book Ever – A great book to read! The author has put things in a simple way for easy understanding. Once you read this book you can be assured to gain a wealth of knowledge on the subject.
More Sales, Less Time – The book delivers the contents that every salesperson will surely look for! The book is uniquely tailored to meet the needs of salesmen.
Blog.close.com – On this website, you can find the top-most and best-selling books that meet the need of every person working in the sales sector. From students to the sales engineer, everyone can find a book based on their requirements.
Briantracy.com – From sales training books to advanced books for the Presidents of the Sales department, the website lists the top ten books that are very resourceful and informative.

Digital Resources

News Resources For Sales Professionals

The process of learning is not just confined to the typical classroom education, this is, in fact, a continuous process wherein you can acquire knowledge through many sources such as – experience, newspapers, journals, magazines, researching, and advocacy. But the simple truth and an easy process is the tap the benefits offered by the internet technology to learn and stay aware of the latest news and trends. Sales during those days meant only the potential to sell the product or service, but nowadays, this alone is not sufficient to enhance your job prospects. Modern Sales domain is global, ever-evolving, and complex – and the pace of change that happens within this industry is also accelerating to a great extent. If you are working for the Sales industry, it is crucial for you to stay abreast of the latest developments in technology, trends, sales behavior, customer’s needs, business objectives, pertaining laws and regulations, payments, logistics, and so on.

But where will you get such updated and authentic information?

The answer is simple – by following the best News Resources websites, as this is the only way you can stay on top of all that information.

The following are some of the best sites that we vouch for the best based on our survey and research. All these resources pages publish close to real-time coverage of all latest and recent happenings in the Sales industry, and beyond that, all these links will help you navigate through the murky and agitated waters of modern sales. Scroll through the list below and churn out the fresh news and other useful assets –

Money.usnews.com -The US News brings you all the latest news pertaining to the sales field. All the latest happening from across the globe is listed here. Apart from that, there is a specially designed platform that gives a brief sketch of how the job will look like and how to make a career as a sales representative.
Theladders.com – This is one of the most prominent websites that have news for every sales professional out there. The founder of sales hacker gives some career advice for the millennials over here.
Medcareernews.com – On this website, you can ensure that your career into sales never goes waste. Once you have entered into this profession, take the next step to progress ahead, and this is what the career page is all about.
Cnbc.com – Make it on this website explains how much rewarding the sales job can be in the U.S. Know which of the companies pay high.
Feedspot.com – The Reddit speaks and shares everything about sales enablement, and also provides live stories and allows you to explore a variety of sales news.

It is rightly said, acquire knowledge from all sides of life. Social media and networking are not only a platform that connects people to gossip to share pictures but these days, these platforms are more popularly used by Sales professionals for staying connected with like-minded people. Networking is the most important facet mainly for job searching, career enhancement and to stay aware of what’s happening across the globe. The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics states that almost 70% of the sales jobs these days are found using social media networking sites. At least, 90% of the hiring companies use social media as their recruitment tool.

And not just that you can use this medium only to find a sales job, you can also use it for creating and cultivating a professional brand. A strong online presence will help you in your career building and foster a relationship with all types of people within your domain.

Use the following top-regarded networking sites which we have listed in this sales career resources guide and boost your job search, career prospects, pursue your sales career and more –

Video Resources For Sales Career

Videos have become quickly popular and are regarded as the most consumed forms of content. And this is exactly the reason, why sales professionals should never be overlooked when such a resource can be used and tapped to get a wealth of information. Whether you want to pursue your career in sales, or you want to know how your fellow-kind is handling sales techniques or strategies, or want to get hear from the experts – whatever your needs may be, the best way to get valuable and pertinent information is from the plenty of Video websites that the Internet offers. From sales employers to experts to a layman in the field, there is a bit of everything for everybody in the following websites we have shortlisted for you.

With the rise of online videos on demand everywhere, it becomes tough, time-consuming and cumbersome to pick the right website that will serve your needs, and so to ease this process for you, we have done thorough research and come up with the following Sales-related videos that contain all career details from job duties to education needed to work settings and more –

Resumes Ahead Of The Curve

Competition is what a sales job is all about! And being in the Sales Career itself will tell you how important a first impression has to be. When you are looking for a new or fresh sales role in the top-most firm, you should never comprise when it comes to crafting a Resume. Your Resume is often considered as the first glance potential an employer sees on you. Hence the resume that you write needs to be professional, persuasive, and to the point.

A best Sales Resume has the potential to sell you and make you a suitable pick. You have to show that you have the sales skills, drive, and the needed experience the employer is searching for. Before you can apply for your Sales job, you should concentrate on writing a Stellar Resume that contains all valuable information, because every day the hiring managers receive thousands and thousands of Resumes, and the only way you can fall into the eyes of the Employer is through an effective Sales Resume.

Here are some important tips that you can consider while drafting your Resume for any Sales role –

Select the best Sales Resume template based on your experience levels
Include all soft skills and technical skills that reflect the job description you are applying for
Highlight your sales resume with relevant skills in case you don’t have experience
If you are applying for a Sales Representative role, strengthen your resume with specific examples and achieved sales target in numbers or volume
A sales resume should clearly outline – Objective, Sales Experience, Education, Interests, Achievements, Technical skills, and soft skills
List your sales responsibilities from your past positions
Avoid spelling and grammatical errors
The resume should be catchy, yet easy to read
List your sales achievements and awards earned
Make sure the resume is ATS-Friendly
Proof-read your resume several times

What’s the use of making a good resume?

Great Resumes get you Interview!

In reality, hiring companies get thousands of job applications. Most of these resumes go directly into the hands of the hiring managers. A good resume necessarily may not get you the job but it gives a guarantee for an interview. And this is why building a great resume is very important in the first place.

Why Us Then!

There are innumerable sites that offer resume templates online, but it’s difficult to find the one which is up-to-date with the prevailing Sales career Trends and which can actually help you search for the perfect job. We have assembled in our page an excellent collection of carefully Curated Job Resume Samples to help job seekers meet the demands of this ever-evolving job market. Our professional team of Career advisors are constantly working on new samples and are coming up to tweak existing ones so that they can highlight the latest hiring trends, job responsibilities, and qualifications.

It is highly impossible to offer a Resume sample for every Sales job title under the Earth, but we have done our best to provide that, and are even working on it more! While we keep working on developing our resume library, you can still be able to find a wide variety of resume samples for most major industries as well as a collection of newly designed Sales Resume templates that can be downloaded for free and customized as needed. So, there you go. This is all about a completed guide on sales career resources.