Hey guys, I just was hired as a business development intern at AnyPerk. Just wondering if anyone had any advice for a person beginning their career in a sales facing role.
First, congrats on the internship! Feel free to contact me - my email is in my profile. Happy to help by making some intros or giving you some pointers.<p>A few things that are important in almost any BD or sales role:<p>1.) Know your product inside and out. It's hard to sell something when you don't know what it is or what it does.<p>2.) Ask a ton of questions. Ask your prospects what their needs are, ask current clients what they like and dislike about your competitors, ask other BD/salespeople in your org to bcc you on their emails so you understand how they're selling, etc.<p>3.) Read and research a lot. Read books about entrepreneurs or companies you admire, read advice from other salespeople on Quora, research your competition, visit your prospects' websites to glean info about them before a call, etc.<p>4.) Understand how your product or service can be genuinely helpful to each customer and get good at being able to concisely explain this to the customer.<p>5.) Be patient. You will have days where it feels like everyone says "no," days where the product team pushes a release back and screws up a big sale, days when no one can make up their mind on your product, etc. Be patient and keep moving forward.