How to Find Your Dream Sales Job

Here's an easy way to get a dream sales job -- the kind of job that will make you want to come to work every day. The method is pretty simple, but it's powerful stuff.

In yesterday's post "Can This Sales Career Be Saved?" a 41-year old sales professional confessed that, despite a career with some notable successes, she had "no idea what to do."

Her situation isn't uncommon among sales pros. I've noticed that a some people get into sales because 1) they wanted to make big money and 2) weren't qualified to do anything else. As a result, there are a fair number of folk who aren't all that happy and, frankly, aren't as successful as they could be.

If that's where you're at, here's a different way to think about your "job search":

• Step 1: Figure out what you really enjoy. In my experience, most people don't know what they truly enjoy in life, or if they do, they automatically assume that they can't make a living doing it, or being around it. You need to decide what really turns you on? Is it rocket ships? Quilting? Computer games? Politics? Whatever it is, I can guarantee you that there's a reasonably well-paying sales job that's somewhere in the thick of it. By the way, this step isn't easy. Most people are so caught up in their workaday lives that they no longer know what would really gets them revved up in the morning.
• Step 2: Discover where money is changing hands. There is not a single pursuit anywhere on the planet that doesn't involve some kind of sales function. The more money that's changing hands, the more there's a need for a talented sales professional. The more you learn about the "business" of your area of interest, the easier it will be to find your dream sales job. Please note, though, that the job title may not be "sales rep." It may be "agent" or "fund-raiser" or something like that. But it will be a sales job all the same.
• Step 3: Network within that area of interest. Once you know where there's a need for a sales professional, it's a simple matter of getting yourself known within the "business" end of that area of interest. Go to conferences and meetings, on your own dime if need be. Talk to as many people as possible. Use your sales skills to build a network and find a job where you're as close as possible to whatever you really love doing.
• Step 4: Rake in the success. Sales professionals who take this approach to finding a sales job are always far more successful than those who just chase the cash. The reason is simple. Your ability to sell is directly dependent upon your passion for what you're selling. If you lack that passion, you'll be mediocre, at best. But with that passion -- nothing can stop you.

Similarly, suppose you love playing computer games. There are many, many places in the game business where money changes hands, but the part that probably involves the most money is the licensing of game characters for other media and for promotional products (like toys). Many of the deals are in the million-dollar category and all of them are custom, which means that a sales professional can add a LOT of value.

I just talked to a guy who had a life-long fascination with rockets and space travel. He now has a job selling reservations on future commercial space flights, and he's booked many millions of dollars in revenue... in just a couple of years. That's the power of passion when it comes to sales.

Of course, there are some people for whom selling itself is pure enjoyment -- regardless of what they're selling. If that's you, congratulations! You'll always have a job and you'll always make plenty of money. And you'll be smiling while you do it.