{"id":11574,"date":"2014-05-19T21:51:18","date_gmt":"2014-05-19T21:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandler.dsstaging2.com\/case-study\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/"},"modified":"2022-10-17T21:28:17","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T21:28:17","slug":"how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Survive Your First Job in Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Congratulations, you\u2019re now a college graduate! You spent four years getting to know the lay of the land and at the start of every semester a syllabus told you what to expect in the coming weeks. Your path to success was carefully mapped out and only you could derail that plan. Life was good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fast forward a few months to when you landed your first job in sales. Sure, you have a boss, your performance expectations are set and you know it\u2019s your job to bring in business, but beyond that it can be a grey area at times. Transitioning from life as a college student into the working world can be an adjustment. Here are some tips for recent graduates to help make the transition from the classroom to the office as smooth as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Never stop learning.<\/strong>\u00a0If training or professional development opportunities are offered to you by your employer, take advantage of them and learn as much as you can. If training isn\u2019t something offered by your company, look for\u00a0<a href=\"\/books\/\"><strong>books that pertain to your field<\/strong><\/a>, professional groups in your city or invest in your own training. Like Sandler teaches, salespeople are not born, they\u2019re made.<\/li><li><strong>Identify a mentor.<\/strong>\u00a0Mentors can help you successfully navigate roadblocks you encounter early on in your career. They can also be someone you confide in when you\u2019ve had a tough day at work or they can be someone to celebrate with when you land a big client. If a mentor isn\u2019t assigned to you, seek out someone that you respect and that\u2019s in a position you\u2019d like to be in someday.<\/li><li><strong>Learn about your products and your company.<\/strong>\u00a0Just like when you were in school, you need to study. The more knowledgeable you are about your company and its products, the more confident and comfortable you will feel when speaking with prospects and clients.<\/li><li><strong>Don\u2019t be afraid to pick up the phone.<\/strong>\u00a0Email can only get you so far. Picking up the phone can often create a connection and rapport that cannot be developed via email. But before you leave too many voicemails, check out one Sandler expert\u2019s opinions on\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sandler.com\/blog\/voicemails-old-school-still-appropriate-results-may-vary\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>when and how to leave a voicemail<\/strong><\/a>.<\/li><li><strong>Listen to the prospect \/ client.<\/strong>\u00a0Sure, you may know everything about your product and service, but remember that selling is not about telling. Ask thought-provoking questions and then really listen \u2013 that\u2019s how you\u2019ll find their pain. Sandler Rule #14: A prospect who is listening is no prospect of all.<\/li><li><strong>Learn from your mistakes and failures.<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s OK to fail, everyone makes mistakes or experiences setbacks, but what\u2019s important is your ability to bounce back. Choose to treat failures as opportunities.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Congratulations, you\u2019re now a college graduate! You spent four years getting to know the lay of the land and at the start of every semester a syllabus told you what to expect in the coming weeks. Your path to success was carefully mapped out and only you could derail that plan. Life was good. Fast&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":11575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Survive Your First Job in Sales | Sandler Training<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Congratulations, you\u2019re now a college graduate! You spent four years getting to know the lay of the land and at the start of every semester a syllabus told you what to expect in the coming weeks. Your path to success was carefully mapped out and only you could derail that plan. Life was good.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Survive Your First Job in Sales | Sandler Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Congratulations, you\u2019re now a college graduate! You spent four years getting to know the lay of the land and at the start of every semester a syllabus told you what to expect in the coming weeks. Your path to success was carefully mapped out and only you could derail that plan. Life was good.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sandler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-19T21:51:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-17T21:28:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Graduation-edited.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hamish Knox\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hamish Knox\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/\",\"name\":\"How to Survive Your First Job in Sales | Sandler Training\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Graduation-edited.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-19T21:51:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-17T21:28:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/087c8568b170ba5211cbe6781a69cad2\"},\"description\":\"Congratulations, you\u2019re now a college graduate! You spent four years getting to know the lay of the land and at the start of every semester a syllabus told you what to expect in the coming weeks. Your path to success was carefully mapped out and only you could derail that plan. Life was good.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Graduation-edited.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Graduation-edited.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":480,\"caption\":\"How to Survive Your First Job in Sales\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Survive Your First Job in Sales\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sandler\",\"description\":\"Sales and leadership training and coaching solutions for salespeople, sales managers, and executives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/087c8568b170ba5211cbe6781a69cad2\",\"name\":\"Hamish Knox\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3e85131c498a276ac2d674e1f1e16eabefa526aff85489f3af30dcd5d433c7e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3e85131c498a276ac2d674e1f1e16eabefa526aff85489f3af30dcd5d433c7e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hamish Knox\"},\"description\":\"Hamish Knox is the president of an authorized Sandler Training\u00ae center located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As a licensed member of the global Sandler\u00ae network, Hamish works with business owners and chief executives who are serious about creating sustainable sales cultures. Hamish worked in sales across a variety of industries including media, communication services, software and professional sports before joining the Sandler network, which melded his passions for sales and education. Early in his Sandler career, Hamish was anointed a Sandler \\\"Rising Star\\\" for quickly building his business and helping fellow Sandler colleagues with their businesses. Hamish is a former Sandler Rookie of the Year, a current member of Sandler's Franchisee Advisory Council and co-authored the new book, Accountability The Sandler Way.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.hamish.sandlersysdev.wpengine.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Survive Your First Job in Sales | Sandler Training","description":"Congratulations, you\u2019re now a college graduate! You spent four years getting to know the lay of the land and at the start of every semester a syllabus told you what to expect in the coming weeks. Your path to success was carefully mapped out and only you could derail that plan. Life was good.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Survive Your First Job in Sales | Sandler Training","og_description":"Congratulations, you\u2019re now a college graduate! You spent four years getting to know the lay of the land and at the start of every semester a syllabus told you what to expect in the coming weeks. Your path to success was carefully mapped out and only you could derail that plan. Life was good.","og_url":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/","og_site_name":"Sandler","article_published_time":"2014-05-19T21:51:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-10-17T21:28:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Graduation-edited.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hamish Knox","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hamish Knox","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/","url":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/","name":"How to Survive Your First Job in Sales | Sandler Training","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Graduation-edited.jpg","datePublished":"2014-05-19T21:51:18+00:00","dateModified":"2022-10-17T21:28:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/087c8568b170ba5211cbe6781a69cad2"},"description":"Congratulations, you\u2019re now a college graduate! You spent four years getting to know the lay of the land and at the start of every semester a syllabus told you what to expect in the coming weeks. Your path to success was carefully mapped out and only you could derail that plan. Life was good.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Graduation-edited.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Graduation-edited.jpg","width":480,"height":480,"caption":"How to Survive Your First Job in Sales"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/how-to-survive-your-first-job-in-sales-3\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Survive Your First Job in Sales"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/","name":"Sandler","description":"Sales and leadership training and coaching solutions for salespeople, sales managers, and executives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/087c8568b170ba5211cbe6781a69cad2","name":"Hamish Knox","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3e85131c498a276ac2d674e1f1e16eabefa526aff85489f3af30dcd5d433c7e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3e85131c498a276ac2d674e1f1e16eabefa526aff85489f3af30dcd5d433c7e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hamish Knox"},"description":"Hamish Knox is the president of an authorized Sandler Training\u00ae center located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As a licensed member of the global Sandler\u00ae network, Hamish works with business owners and chief executives who are serious about creating sustainable sales cultures. Hamish worked in sales across a variety of industries including media, communication services, software and professional sports before joining the Sandler network, which melded his passions for sales and education. Early in his Sandler career, Hamish was anointed a Sandler \"Rising Star\" for quickly building his business and helping fellow Sandler colleagues with their businesses. Hamish is a former Sandler Rookie of the Year, a current member of Sandler's Franchisee Advisory Council and co-authored the new book, Accountability The Sandler Way.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.hamish.sandlersysdev.wpengine.com"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}