How do I start a career in sales?

You start a career in sales by gaining sales experience, which is essential to start building your skills. Getting postsecondary education in a business-related field is helpful as well.

How do you become a successful sales professional?

You become a successful sales professional by being goal-oriented and adaptable. It would be helpful to gain sales experience as a sales representative or sales associate to learn the trade tricks and hone this mindset.

How much do sales professionals make?

Sales professionals make around $64,000 yearly or $30.88 hourly. As most jobs go, factors like location, industry, and experience can determine your exact salary, as well as factors like whether you're paid by commission.

Is sales professional a good job?

Yes, being a sales professional is a good job. This is more the case if you enjoy interacting with people and the high salary possibilities. Because of the nature of the job, a sales professional should have excellent communication and customer service skills to engage effectively with customers. Because sales professionals are selling products or services, they must appeal to customers with various strategies and persuade them with helpful product or service details. Additionally, the salary possibilities are an enticing aspect.

What are professional sales skills?

Professional sales skills are having excellent product knowledge, understanding the sales process, and excellent communication. Because of the nature of the job, a sales professional should have excellent communication and customer service, and management to engage effectively with customers. In general, they must appeal to customers with various strategies and do their best to persuade them with helpful product or service details. Setting sales goals and understanding point of sale operations, equipment, and systems are also valuable skills to have and utilize.

What qualifications do you need for sales?

Qualifications you need for sales include: communication skills, deep product or service knowledge, interpersonal skills, such as active listening, analytical abilities, on-the-job learning skills, heavy adaptability, and resilience.

What is a sales professional and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Frederik Beuk,

John Cicala Ph.D.

A sales professional specializes in selling goods or services to customers. They identify potential customers, build relationships, and persuade them to make a purchase. Sales professionals use communication and interpersonal skills and require an understanding of the products or services they sell. They may work for industries such as retail, real estate, and technology. Successful sales professionals are self-motivated, goal-oriented, and persistent.

What general advice would you give to a sales professional?

Frederik Beuk

Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Akron

The key consideration is whether you really want to maximize your initial salary. For instance, envision two job opportunities: one offering a salary of $50,000 per year, where you'd be the most junior team member, and the other providing $75,000 per year, with the caveat that you would be the sole sales representative for the firm. The optimal choice is to prioritize learning opportunities. In this context, being the lone salesperson for a company that compensates its highest-earning sales professional $75,000 might not be your superior option. Instead, seek a position that offers the greatest potential for learning. Subsequently, demonstrate your negotiating prowess, a critical sales skill, by securing a slightly higher salary. However, it's essential not to fixate on maximizing your starting salary. Your career requires a long-term strategy, and you have several decades ahead of you to maximize income.

ScoreSales ProfessionalUS Average

Salary

5.4

Avg. Salary $68,809

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.1

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 5.16%

Black or African American 3.84%

Hispanic or Latino 14.28%

Unknown 3.71%

White 72.78%

Gender

female 36.34%

male 63.66%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a sales professional?

Pros

Potential for high income
Opportunity for career growth and advancement
Flexibility in work schedule
Opportunity to travel
Training and development programs often provided

Cons

High-pressure environment with aggressive sales goals
Long hours and unpredictable work schedule
High stress levels and burnout potential
Sales quotas can be unrealistic or unattainable
Commission-based pay structure can lead to inconsistent income

Key steps to become a sales professional

Explore sales professional education requirements

Most common sales professional degrees

Bachelor's

63.3 %

Associate

15.5 %

High School Diploma

11.2 %

Start to develop specific sales professional skills

Skills	Percentages
Product Knowledge	12.79%
POS	10.27%
CRM	7.60%
Work Ethic	7.20%
Sales Presentations	6.10%

Complete relevant sales professional training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New sales professionals learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a sales professional based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real sales professional resumes.

Research sales professional duties and responsibilities

Track leads and manage accounts with SalesForce.
Record client information and sales using SalesForce.
Utilize Instagram and Facebook for marketing channel to promote diverse product lines.
Preform daily sales tasks as provide outstanding customer service and greetings, operate POS register system, merchandise transfers and re-merchandising.

Prepare your sales professional resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your sales professional resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a sales professional resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable sales professional resume templates

Build a professional sales professional resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your sales professional resume.

Apply for sales professional jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a sales professional job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do sales professionals rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Sales professional reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Pros

Communicating and helping my clients.

Cons

The travel was extensive. Sometimes. It took more than month to close a deaĺ.

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020

Pros

I love to engage the public and meet new faces. I enjoy explaining all of the benefits of the product I am selling, and making the customer feel important and well informed.

Cons

I don't like feeling like I haven't did a great at job at making customers feel comfortable and confident about where and who they are purchasing from.

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020

Pros

i enjoy the interaction with people, listen the customer in order to convert him/her into your friend, detect and help customer with his/her needs.

Cons

People without vision, dreams and selfishness.

What is a sales professional and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a sales professional?

What are the pros and cons of being a sales professional?

Sales professional career paths

Key steps to become a sales professional

Explore sales professional education requirements

Most common sales professional degrees

Start to develop specific sales professional skills

Complete relevant sales professional training and internships

Research sales professional duties and responsibilities

Prepare your sales professional resume

Choose from 10+ customizable sales professional resume templates

Apply for sales professional jobs

How did you land your first sales professional job

Average sales professional salary

How do sales professionals rate their job?

Sales professional reviews

Sales professional FAQs

How do I start a career in sales?

How do you become a successful sales professional?

How much do sales professionals make?

Is sales professional a good job?

What are professional sales skills?

What qualifications do you need for sales?

Search for sales professional jobs

Sales professional jobs by state