I’m a big fan of sales, as a matter of fact I firmly believe that unless you’re born into it, you’re not going to make money without learning sales. And I also think that a sales job is the best job that you can get for making money fast. Not that it’s not hard or that you don’t have to learn things, to make good money of course you do.
Rather I think a sales job, especially for a high ticket item that you make commission on is the most efficient and effective path to making a decent income in the shortest amount of time possible. Something like selling cars, boats, RVs, houses, and the like. However one of these jobs isn’t always going to be available.
So what are some alternatives? Now, let me start by saying these routes won’t be quite as effective and efficient as a direct sales job such as those listed above, but with that being said they can still be made to work. And another thing, you still need to learn and master sales. You need to know sales like the back of your hand but honestly that’s something you need for success in life anyways.
So let’s get into it.
The Best Alternatives To Sales
So you can’t or don’t want to get a high ticket direct sales jobs what are some alternatives? Well first off we want to look for something where our sales skills have an impact on how much money we’re taking home at the end of the day. There are two major options that come to mind when thinking about this. The first is trade jobs, things like plumbing but also contractor work and the like. Anything where you can go into business for yourself and negotiate your own prices.
Lots of options here. But essentially you’re going to utilize a skill whether it’s plumbing, electrician, carpentry, or whatever else and using that to sell your services and make money. These do require some schooling and a learning curve but they don’t require years upon years of school that’ll get you neck deep in debt. And then on top of that you’ll have to learn all that you can about sales but again, no matter what you do that’s a requirement. We’ll get more in depth about how to do this later.
Next is a server’s position. While many people look down on servers the fact of the matter is there are many servers, bartenders, and the like that are pulling in absolutely great incomes, if they’re at the right place and know what they are doing. I know serving may seem like a “lower” job for most but that is foolish and ignorant thinking. Especially considering a good handful of servers make way more than professors and other so called “educated” folk. We’ll get more into how to maximize this in a second.
How To Maximize Income At Those Two Respective Jobs
So let’s talk about how to maximize income as a contractor. There are essentially three skills required here. First you have to be at least decent at whatever your job is. You have to know how to fix/build things and be halfway decent at it. This isn’t the most important of the three skills but it is a prerequisite for making decent money. Next is customer management. Meaning a combination of having good people skills, making people feel good about themselves, and getting customers to give you reviews, referrals, and come back to you time and time again.
And then finally sales, which granted covers a whole lot of customer management as well. When you start out you may have to low ball yourself or do things that aren’t ideal in order to get started. That’s fine as it’ll be a temporary thing if you do these other things right. First off you need reviews, get a website and write a book on whatever you do. That book isn’t going to make you money on Amazon, instead it’s going to be used as the best business card in the world.
You slap a book on someone’s table, you’re known as the guy who “wrote the book on it” and you have plenty of swinging room for negotiation. Then you need to make sure you’re getting reviews/testimonials and a place to display them. Always, always, always ask for these. Then ask for a referral. Do whatever you have to do to gain traction in the beginning, that’s the hardest part. I don’t have time to cover everything here but that’s a good start.
For a server position, much is the same. But there are some differences as well. Obviously you need decent serving skills such as being attentive, courteous, remembering orders, putting things in correctly, etc. but that’s not what’s going to make you the big bucks. You need sales skills for that. But even before that let’s look at what you can do to help maximize your money earned.
First off understand that, on average, the biggest the total bill the bigger your tips and therefore take home will be. With this understanding you want to target higher end restaurants to make decent money as a server. However you will most likely need experience to get these roles, so don’t panic if you have to go to a mid-tier restaurant. It’s just that the higher price point restaurant you get the easier it will be to make more money.
But with that being said you can still maximize your tips and therefore income by follow sales and striving to make each experience personal for each and every customer. There are a lot of books out there on how this works that you should check out.
There Are Always Options
When there’s a will there’s a way. If you want to make money and you keep at it, making it your number one goal then you’ll make it. These are just two more options but there are plenty more out there. Regardless don’t stop looking, don’t stop working, and above all else don’t stop learning. Because as soon as you stop learning then you’re done. So keep up the good work, keep moving forward, and day by day move towards your goals and the life that you want to live.
