Sales Career Resources
This page has basic suggestions for people who are considering a professional sales career.
WARNING AND OFFER:
If you are thinking about entering sales, materials on this page “scratch the surface” of things that might be helpful to consider. Email Bryan if you want to see other materials or if you are a UW-Oshkosh student and want talk about sales jobs or other sales related issues (Bryan Lilly, sales program professor, lilly@uwosh.edu, 920-424-7201, Sage Hall 1449).
Tips for Evaluating Sales Roles:
NOTE: These are mostly one-pagers to help you evaluate a sales job or whether to pursue sales. Click the links to download the files.
Overview of different types of jobs.
What salespeople like about sales and what they dislike or struggle with.
Sales interview tips and some common sales terms.
Sales Books:
NOTE: These books can help you build general sales skills. See Professor Bryan Lilly (Sage Hall 1449, lilly@uwosh.edu) if you want to look at these or other books for a moment, to see if they interest you.
You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar, by David Sandler. This book is used a global sales training company, started by Sandler. The book covers a wide variety of basic sales fundamentals.
The Little Red Book of Selling, by Jeffrey Gitomer. This book presents a wide range of very condensed 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, especially if products are similar.
The Little Blue Book of Customer Service, by Katy Kunst. This book presents 20 Service Standards used by Fastenal Corp. Good service helps drive customer loyalty.
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 how top salespeople challenge customers to rethink how they view problems and solutions.
Achieve Sales Excellence, by Howard Stevens and Theodore Kinni. This book presents the customer perspective: what do customers want in salespeople? Background research is included that some readers will want to skip.
NOTE: Hundreds of other good sales books exist. My best advice is, “It’s less about what you read and learn, and more about continuous learning.” Just learn something new every week, and over time you’ll do well.
Business Education Enrichment Fund of Wisconsin 