Matt is an award-winning self-employed field representative contracted to represent Appco UK’s clients. He always felt he had a knack for sales, but he believes the industry holds even more benefits for people wanting to develop that skill set from scratch.
When I began working in this business a year ago, I found out straight away that direct sales came easily to me. I enjoyed being in the field and I saw how I could turn this into a successful career.
However, that is not everyone’s experience.
Some people struggle with direct marketing, especially when representing Appco UK’s clients as the focus is on engaging in genuinely meaningful and personalised conversations with people, rather than just selling to them. Funnily enough, it’s probably the people who initially find it challenging who are likely to benefit most from it.
Being a field representative can build your confidence and help develop people skills, so it’s not just a professional change, but also one that can improve your whole life!
The people I’ve seen the biggest improvements in are the ones who, at first, found sales the most difficult.
Rejection is one of the most challenging aspects of the role, but it also teaches you how to pick yourself up and move on. Dealing with it on a day-to-day basis, you learn that ‘the worst’ can and does happen and, actually, it’s not that bad.
Once people start seeing results, the boost in confidence is amazing – they get the sense that they are in control of how they are working and what they are earning.
It’s not just apparent when they are out ‘in the field’, but also when they’re interacting with others, both professionally and socially. They are happier, communicate better, make decisions more easily, and are able to help others.
But things don’t just stop once you crack sales; this industry offers ongoing development and the ability to aim for something more.
When it came to the competition for sales achievement, I was determined to win and committed everything to it. And I succeeded. Nothing could give you more confidence than dedicating yourself to something entirely and then achieving it.
I was unhappy with my job in the building industry and was looking for something that I could turn into a career, but I didn’t know straight away that this business was going to be it.
Once I was confident with sales, I began to see the potential for creating a future in the business.
My goal now is to have my own company up and running in the UK by next summer, then, over the next five to 10 years, I’ll look at expanding abroad.
I don’t think there’s a person alive who wouldn’t benefit from what we do.