We all know that the money is in sales, but only if you can close the deal. This is true for whatever industry sector you jump into. If you can’t close deals, don’t count on making loads of money. However, if you want to increase your chances of making more money than your average sales executive, what you can do is choose the industry sector you will engage from the very start. With the same amount of work and sweat, you’ll be making more money by choosing the right industry sector simply because the base salaries and sales commissions for these industries are naturally bigger. So do yourself a favor, skip trying to sell encyclopedias and get a job selling the in thing.
Featured Programs
1. Post University
2. Walden University
Top Three Highest Paying Sales Jobs
Top Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents – $157,000
You don’t even have to be a top executive to earn such figures. When it comes to financial products and services, even a top sales agent can earn six figures. And if you are not the best sales agent in the world, it would hearten you to know that the national average pay for securities, commodities, and financial service agents is still a nice $95,000. That may not make the six-figure mark, but hey, it’s just another sale away!
Digital media sales agents/executives – $170,000 to $180,000
With the base salary, who even needs to think of commissions? But boy does digital media sales pay, because not only is the base pay good, but money made in commission can double the above figure. So the general advice is to forget about traditional marketing channels, if you want to make a tidy profit, apply in companies that specialize in emerging marketing channels or overhaul your company’s product line to expand to digital media.
Sales consultant – $120,000 to $250,000
The job title may be vague, but that is only because the best sales consultants can be called upon to give advice and land deals for just about any business in any industry. This is the big league of sales where only the top students of the top universities can get into the top sales consulting firms, the same firms that are hired by only the biggest of companies. A solid accounting background pays off when applying for such jobs, but it is more important to have an incredibly high GPA and solid success rate in sales. Commissions vary greatly for this job, going from zero (but who among the top can’t sell?) to millions.
More Featured Programs
1. Walden University
2. American InterContinental University
3. Post University
Another thing you should realize about sales jobs is that it doesn’t pay to go into retail sales, where returns are minimal, forcing you to work harder for the same amount of commission. Instead, what you should focus on is getting a sales job where you can sell business-to-business products and services, which will automatically take care of volume. Of course, it would even be better if you stick to high-margin products and services for businesses.
Sources:
Forbes.com and Monster.com
