What to Expect on Your First Day in Sales

Ever since you were young, you have had the gift of gab, a preternatural ability to make conversation with a complete stranger. More than that, you have an ability to sell what you are saying, to emphasize and massage a subject in order to make it as attractive as possible to whoever is listening. In other words, you are uniquely suited to the world of sales.

But confidence can only get you so far. In sales, there are processes to learn, techniques to practice, jargon to memorize and software to habituate yourself to, among many other points in the learning curve. In fact, as important as confidence is, a person’s “teachability” and ability to remain open to instruction and to strive for personal growth is just as valuable (sometimes even more so).

Your first day (and about 100 days after, at least) will be filled with teachable moments. The best thing you can do is be a sponge, soaking it all in. If you want a good idea what that first day in sales will look like, here’s how a typical first day might go down.

Meeting Your Colleagues

Your first role in sales will likely be that of a “sales development representative” or SDR for short. You are in charge of qualifying leads and then passing them off to an account executive, or AE, to close the sale. On your first day, you will likely be greeted by the sales manager, the head honcho in charge of overseeing the sales team. You will meet your fellow SDRs and, provided they are in-office, you’ll probably meet all the AEs too.

Reviewing Your Pre-boarding and Onboarding Materials

A lot of sales teams like to give out pre-boarding material – that is, the information they expect you to review before starting. You might be asked about the material, so be sure to actually read it! Instead of – or perhaps in addition to – that material, you will also probably receive an onboarding package, a curriculum of sorts that you will follow over the coming months. This may include reading, practice, and training. A good sales manager will be instrumental throughout onboarding, helping you train and understand key concepts.

Getting to Know the Software

As mentioned, your first position will probably be SDR, which means (if you are lucky) your team will be using sales lead tracking software from VanillaSoft in its operations. It’s a straightforward platform that automates your workflow and chooses what leads to follow next, among a number of other functions. For the amount of hassle and guesswork it takes out of your job as an SDR, the small amount of time it takes to learn is well worth it. Pay attention during this part of the day – it is a key facet of the job!

Getting Advice… Lots of Advice

You might get to make a few cold calls on your first day, but more likely what will happen is you will receive advice. From everyone. All-day. It can be overwhelming having strangers inundate you with tips (especially when some are contradictory) but do your best to retain as much as possible. Members of a good sales team have each other’s back, so the info they give you is in good faith, meant to fast track you toward becoming a high-earning member of the team.

Now that you know what to expect, all there is left to do is go out in the job force and be the best salesperson you can be. Good luck!