A Path to a Successful Career in Sales

It's uncommon for people to become sales professionals because that was their original plan. In the media, the sales profession is rarely shown in a favorable light. In most cases, sales professionals are depicted as dishonest (Kurt Russell in the movie Used Cars), the schmoozers and boozers (John M. Slattery in the hit TV show Mad Men), over stressed and miserable (Jack Lemmon in the movie Glenngary Glen Ross), at the mercy of demanding customers (the many viral videos featuring Karens), as morons (Chris Farley in the movie Tommy Boy), or as comic relief (Joe Pesci as a real estate agent in Lethal Weapon 3). The reality is that none of these examples accurately reflects what a sales professional is in real life or how rewarding a sales career can be.

In A Path to A Successful Career In Sales, you will learn what the most successful sales professionals do best, the talents and skills required and how to get started. In addition, you will be provided with guidelines (both written and unwritten) that will enable you to accelerate your career development, avoid common mistakes that can hold you back, as well as those that will, quite simply stated, keep you from getting yourself fired.

The sales profession will be discussed from a broader perspective beyond simply maximizing earnings potential to show how rewarding it can be, while maintaining appropriate boundaries with customers and a healthy work-life balance in a demanding, over-connected world. Contrary to how we are shown the profession in the media, a career as a sales professional is one that requires resilience, adaptability, problem solving, and a sharp intellect. After finishing this book, and following Ken Ciulla's guidelines, you will come to realize that sales can be a highly lucrative and satisfying career path.

As a professional, Ken Ciulla has twenty-nine years of proven sales, account management and leadership success in multiple industries, earning many awards along the way. He is a certified sales process trainer who has trained hundreds of sales professionals over the course of his career not only facilitating programs but creating them as well.
Ken is happily married to a woman who he believes is the sun in his sky. They have a blended family of four adult children, one granddaughter, and a sweetheart of a Yellow Lab named Penny.

Ken is an introvert and does not feel entirely comfortable in larger social situations. He prefers to spend his free time with family and close friends. When not doing that, he enjoys reading, cooking, writing, playing RPG and strategy-based video games, and watching football. He really enjoys science-fiction in all forms such as books, TV shows, movies, and video games.