Understanding the principles of selling is key to a successful career, no matter your major or the industry you ultimately want to enter after graduation. During your time as an undergraduate, you’ll most likely be exposed to some level of sales education (especially if you’re a business or finance major), but most universities don’t provide real-world, person-to-person selling experience that will give you an edge when you enter the job market.
In this article, we break down how to gain practical sales experience during your undergraduate career and the essential sales skills employers love.
5 ways to gain sales experience during your time as an undergraduate.
While your university may offer sales-focused classes that you can take as part of your major, an elective, or audit, those classes likely won’t provide you with the hands-on experience that you’ll need to get a leg up when entering the job market. That’s why it is so important to look for opportunities to stretch your skills outside of the classroom.
Here are a few ways you can gain hands-on sales experience:
- On or off-campus jobs: Many college students choose to work retail jobs to help cover their expenses and pay for their tuition. Working in retail or hospitality is a great way to learn customer service, sales, and people skills that will definitely come in handy later in your career.
- Traditional internships: Interning in the sales or marketing departments at a company in your desired industry is a great way to begin to expose yourself to the skills and knowledge you’ll need to succeed.
- Fundraising: Whether you get a job at your university’s alumni phone bank or are volunteering for a cause you care about, fundraising is a crash-course in sales skills, even if it isn’t always thought of as “salesy.”
- Clubs and campus organizations: Similarly, fundraising and recruiting for campus organizations or clubs is another great way to practice some of the key principles of selling.
- College Works’ Student Professional Program: As a College Works intern, you’ll do more than learn by observing. You’ll be placed in charge of your very own business, gaining real-world sales knowledge and experience.
Why College Works’ Student Professional Program is the best way to build sales experience.
One of the best ways to gain hands-on selling experience during your undergrad career is through College Works’ Student Professional Program (SPP). For nearly 30 years, College Works has been teaching the principles of selling to university level students through our unique management internship program, which allows you to gain real-world experience and build business skills that put you miles ahead of your peers.
As a College Works intern, you’ll gain exposure to every part of the sales process by managing your own house painting business.
Practicing the seven-step sales framework
During the course of the Student Professional Program, you’ll gain a deep knowledge of each step in the classic seven-step sales framework. Here’s a peek into what that process might look like during your internship.
- Prospecting and qualifying: You’ll identify viable candidates for professional house painting services by researching homes and homeowners throughout your community.
- Preparation and research: You’ll learn how to prepare your sales pitch, weave in information specific to your prospective client (such as the current color of their home or style of construction), and ensure you have all of the necessary materials on hand to answer any question thrown your way.
- Approach: Every seller knows that the key to a successful deal is to establish rapport as early as possible with prospective buyers. As you pitch to more prospective clients, you’ll learn the best ways to introduce yourself, the right introductory questions to ask, and more.
- Presentation: This is the meat of your sales interaction! You’ll build confidence in presenting a solution to the prospect’s problem by explaining in detail the advantages of a professional house painting job.
- Overcome objections: Questions and concerns are a natural part of the sales process. You’ll learn to acknowledge a prospect’s objections, how to ask for more follow-up questions to clarify their point of view, and how to apply research to prepare in advance for objections a prospect is likely to have.
- Close the sale: Once all objections have been overcome, you’ll practice and get comfortable with asking if a prospect is ready to purchase your services.
- Follow up: Your job as a seller isn’t over once the contract has been signed and the work is done! Learning to follow up after a project is crucial to turning one-time clients into repeat customers and referral networks for you.
Essential sales skills employers love.
In addition to getting first-hand exposure to the seven-step selling framework we just outlined, you should aim to participate in an extracurricular activity, job, or internship that immerses you in the essential principles of selling.
The College Works’ Student Professional Program will give you the opportunity to not only test out the time honored principles outlined below, but you’ll also get the chance to understand how to put your own unique twist on each to be the strongest seller you can be.
Ask and listen
It’s common knowledge in the sales world that in order to be successful, you should listen more than you talk. It’s crucial to actively listen to what your prospect has to say so you can understand their needs and respond accordingly with solutions. Ask specific follow-up questions, give them your undivided attention, and let their needs lead the way.
Sell yourself
When selling a service—like you will be during the College Works Student Professional Program— it’s important to understand that you’re selling yourself as much as the work you’ll ultimately help provide. This means striking the right balance of confidence, professionalism, and humanity. Your personality is ultimately what will sell most clients on your service, so don’t hide it when asking questions, listening to their concerns, and presenting solutions.
Engage with individuals
Each prospect is unique, and folks living next door to each other can vary drastically in how they’ll respond to your sales pitch. As you utilize the “ask and listen” principle, you’ll begin to understand how to quickly get a sense of each prospect’s personality and specific needs, so you can respond with fine-tuned solutions.
Link features to benefits
The advantages of the services you’re selling may seem obvious to you, but they likely won’t be to your prospect. The Student Professional Program will give you the crucial experience you need to understand that customers don’t always care about a service like the removal of loose paint—but they do care about the result of that service (in this case, the enhanced surface appearance of their home).
Sell the results
Similarly, selling the results of your service is a good way to generate real desire in your prospects. If you can create a vision of what the outcome of your services will look like tied to your clients specific needs and expectations, you’ll be in a much better position to close the sale.
Use emotions (not logic) to drive conversions
According to a seminal sales study produced by Harvard Business School, as much as 95% of our purchase decision making takes place subconsciously. This means that people very rarely make buying decisions based on reason alone. So, while facts and figures are an important part of any sales pitch, communicating the way your services will enhance a customer’s life in the short and long term is what really drives conversions.
Focus on solutions
It is always important to address a customer’s concerns head on, but as you’ll learn during the course of your internship, it’s important not to get bogged down in this part of the sales process. Instead, shift the conversation to how you’ve tailored what you’re selling to directly solve their problems.
Be professional
While developing rapport and camaraderie with your prospects is key, it’s important to understand how to do that while still maintaining a professional demeanor. Projecting professionalism is key to earning your client’s trust and is the best way to communicate that you know what you’re talking about and can provide high-quality service.
Focus on improving
No one is perfect, and there is always something new to learn in selling (which is why it can be such a rewarding career path). Some of these selling principles will come easily to you, while others will take more time and practice to get comfortable with. So always be on the lookout for ways you can improve and develop yourself as both an individual and a professional.
Sell value, not price
A sales pitch based on numbers alone will almost always fall flat. The value of the service that you provide should be at the forefront of every client interaction. If you’re able to listen to your prospect’s concerns and present tailored solutions, they’ll be much more likely to understand why your services are priced as they are.
Know your stuff
As a college student, you already understand the importance of doing your homework. Selling is no different! As a College Works intern, you’ll encounter clients who want to test your knowledge of your business as well as folks who simply need a bit of reassurance that they’re making the right decision. In order to do this, you’ll need to know your business inside and out—and be ready to answer any question imaginable about your services.
College Works: success is in session.
College Works is more than just a summer job or internship—our program is built on our belief in the transformative power of actual business and experience. Over the course of our program, you’ll get a chance to test all of the essential sales skills and techniques we’ve covered in this article in the real world. In the process, you’ll not only get the chance to earn money—you’ll also gain crucial skills that will help you stand out from your peers and succeed in the career of your dreams.
Interested in learning more about the College Works Professional Program? Dive into all of the details — and learn how to start your entrepreneurial journey — here.