Sales Resources
This page has basic resources for people entering professional sales.
PURPOSE: For students that don’t know much about professional sales, the goal of this page is to provide a few ideas to consider, to help you land a sales role you like.
WARNING: Some universities have entire sales majors. Materials on this page are extremely superficial.
WHAT ELSE? Would you like to see other material on this page? If so, email Bryan Lilly, sales program professor, lilly@uwosh.edu Feel free to see Bryan in person if you want to see some of the materials we use in our sales program.
SIX SHORT HANDOUTS with tips for people who enter sales
Tips about sales roles; different types of roles exist.
Sales interview tips.
What do salespeople like about sales and what do they dislike or struggle with?
Compensation tips.
What makes a sales process good (or shitty)?
Tips for when you start a first sales role: a short Sales Survival Guide.
SIX GREAT sales books
NOTE: These books do not address “What’s new?” They cover various fundamentals. Hundreds of other good sales books exist. My best advice is, “It’s less about what you read, and more about continuous learning.” Just get started and learn something new every week.
The Little Red Book of Selling, by Jeffrey Gitomer. This book presents a wide range of Sales Principles starting with Principle 1: “Kick your own ass.”
People Buy You, by Jeb Blount. This book addresses why customers prefer to buy from some salespeople more than others, even if products are the same.
Networking is a Contact Sport, by Joe Sweeney. This book presents ideas about developing and leveraging connections for mutual benefit.
The Challenger Sale, by M. Dixon & B. Adamson. This book discusses why top salespeople often challenge customers to look at problem-solving in different ways.
Handling Objections, by Phil Whitebloom. This book gives advice about listening to customer concerns, and then diagnosing and responding to them. As a side note, Phil is a UW-Oshkosh Alum, has received the UW-Oshkosh Distinguished Alumni Award, and
Selling the Wheel, by Howard Stevens. Do you like stories? This book is a fun story about a guy 3000 years ago who invents the wheel. As the story progresses, we see why great new products can be hard to sell, and why the sales process should change as a product becomes more familiar to people.
xxx
Business Education Enrichment Fund of Wisconsin 