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I have a good friend who is looking for a job, and I think he would be great at sales. He's not from this country though, but his English is almost perfect, and I just feel that he would have a lot of earning potential in the right sales situation. Can anyone help me think of sales jobs (other than auto sales, have already thought of that one) where he may have a good chance of success? Returning to school is not an option.
There are lots. Most sales jobs don't (or shouldn't) require a degree unless the product or service offered is something very specialized. Be wary of scams, though. Avoid anything that requires you to pay upfront or is 100% commission.
What does he do now? Does he even want to work in sales?
He's overseas at the moment attending to some family issues. He was working retail at my family's small business and was always our top salesperson. Like I said, he's not from the US, and I just feel like he doesn't really know a lot about different jobs, etc., and he is asking me what he should do to make a decent living. I know he'd be happy with making 35 or 40k (wouldn't a lot of people ) and personally I think he'd be a good salesperson and would enjoy it.
There are tons of sales jobs that may not require a college background but there are also tons of sales jobs that require some technical knowledge with or without a degree. It really may depend on how fast a learner he is, disposition and closing abilities. He is setting up to interview at a place that will ask him to sell them a piece of paper. Or explain why that paper is better than another. He should get some familiarity with techniques first, then figure out where he can apply it. And if one wants to commit to sales, I'd suggest aiming higher than 35k-40 a year, that's a fairly low level for the amount of stress possible.
That range is more like what a commissioned in store rep might make at the right place but not really sure if that exists anymore.
Ideally, you'd want to get in with a base plus commission situation with tiered incentives over 100% quota.
But sometimes, you have to have experience in the industry to get that kind of gig.
Commission only sales is a losing path, I'd stay away from those.
My ex brother in law was a door to door sales man for a vacuum company for awhile. Didn't last long, and it sounded like an incredibly tough situation to be successful at.
While in college I answered an add "$10/hr MINIMUM guaranteed!" - turned out to be a scam selling poor quality cooking knives to friends/family/strangers who didn't want them to begin with. First we had to buy the product for an outrageous "discounted" price ("they're quality!") which would be our supply to sell. Next step was to call about 5 friends/family members and pitch the product while they observed us (in training).
However, before we could get to that part of training, we first had to sell ourselves to the manager. We did one on one interviews with them, they threw out bits of how great working there was, and you can "work when you want, make as much as you want." Then they said something like training would continue tomorrow (with the cold calling/buying part), but they couldn't accept everybody who applied and needed to let some of us go, and would let us know that night if they accepted you.
I drove home "Oh please oh please oh please get the job!" then had just enough time pass to where "wait...it's selling knives, and they looked kind of cheep...that's not normally how people buy knives.." so when they called that night and said joyously "you got the job!" I was recovered enough to tell them "no thanks."
My ex brother in law was a door to door sales man for a vacuum company for awhile. Didn't last long, and it sounded like an incredibly tough situation to be successful at.
While in college I answered an add "$10/hr MINIMUM guaranteed!" - turned out to be a scam selling poor quality cooking knives to friends/family/strangers who didn't want them to begin with. First we had to buy the product for an outrageous "discounted" price ("they're quality!") which would be our supply to sell. Next step was to call about 5 friends/family members and pitch the product while they observed us (in training).
However, before we could get to that part of training, we first had to sell ourselves to the manager. We did one on one interviews with them, they threw out bits of how great working there was, and you can "work when you want, make as much as you want." Then they said something like training would continue tomorrow (with the cold calling/buying part), but they couldn't accept everybody who applied and needed to let some of us go, and would let us know that night if they accepted you.
I drove home "Oh please oh please oh please get the job!" then had just enough time pass to where "wait...it's selling knives, and they looked kind of cheep...that's not normally how people buy knives.." so when they called that night and said joyously "you got the job!" I was recovered enough to tell them "no thanks."
Anyway, just recounting as a warning..
ah vector. i hate to disappoint, but (in full scam style) everyone gets the "job". you made a good choice
If he's a good writer, he should consider article marketing/advertising. You don't need a degree to do that. I have not one Journalism degree and I do it. Some places pay $5 for 400 words. Doesn't sound like much. But knock out 2 in an hour and you just landed a $10 an hour job. How does THAT sound?
Look for a route sales job (soda, beer, bread, chips, etc.) Major beverage distributors is a good place to start. Remember everything that's in a store has to be sold, and "up-sold" by a rep.
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) and personally I think he'd be a good salesperson and would enjoy it.
