Beth Smits ⋅ Washington, DC Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies ⋅ 24 years experience

Professional associations are always a great place to start when you're looking for training opportunities. I have found the American Marketing Association to be a treasure trove of information, even without membership access. They have e-learning modules as well as other training offers via their website: https://www.ama.org/Pages/default.aspx. If you get more specific about the industry area where you're like to work, also look for associations in that field, which often provide specialist trainings.

Good luck!

John DeNoy ⋅ Ridgewood, NJ Neudesic ⋅ 20 years experience

Matt, Thank you for your service. I have been in B2B sales for over 25 years and would be happy to provide you guidance and recommendations on how to refine your sales knowledge and skills. A book that is getting a lot of attention now is "The Challenger Sale" written by consultants from the Corporate Executive Board. Most sales courses and books regurgitate what has already been written but I find this book different. Xerox and ADP offer some of the best sales training for new sellers, but in my experience one learns the most by experience and watching and listening to how successful sellers sell.
Please reach out to should you wish some 1:1 guidance.

JD

Bob Bechill ⋅ Lodi, CA University of the Pacific Career Resource Center ⋅ 16 years experience

Subscribe to SalesGravy.com Full of sales training and info. Also, any book by Jeffrey Gitomer is great and probably easily attainable from you local library. He also has a robust web site. All of these resources are free.

Julia Rivera ⋅ Burbank, CA Los Angeles Ballet Company ⋅ 15 years experience

For the most up to date information, webinars, white papers and statistics, join the American Marketing Association. there may also be a chapter in your area that hosts events both social and professional. Ama.org

Aitbek Amatov ⋅ Athens, GA ⋅ 5 years experience

Dear Mathew,

There are online classes for free in khanacademy.org and coursera.org

These are absolutely free and easy to use/learn resources.

Best wishes,
Bek Amatov

Lowell Sandoval ⋅ Seattle, WA LowellSandoval.com ⋅ 25 years experience

Matthew,

A key starting point is knowing the essence or purpose of each one, then build upon and specialize this understanding in a field that motivates you.

Basic Definition "Marketing": Motivating target prospective or existing clients to contact your sales staff to dig deeper on your products benefits and how it may solve their business problem. Hopefully this results into a sale.

Basic Definition of "Sales": Sales reps connecting prospective and existing clients' business needs directly to the benefits in their products or services with the intended result of exchanging the product for money. Sales is typically conducted from a Business to Business or Business to Consumer model.

Basic Definition of "Business Development": Building relationships with channel partners, alliances, distributors and associations that enable a market wide sales strategy for long-term return on investment.

Sales and marketing require vendors to understand that the business world is people-centric. This means listening to needs and understanding who your clients are is critical.

Some solid books for understanding the psychology behind motivation are;

- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey
- Spin Selling - Neil Rackham
- You Can Negotiate Anything - Herb Cohen
- Think Big And Kick Ass - Donald Trump

Good starting point.

Best wishes,

Lowell Sandoval

Paul Vera ⋅ Houston, TX Admera Health ⋅ 19 years experience

I already saw you got some good ideas on resources but here is a different take and an exercise for you.

I have been successful in sales and now marketing for 14 years.

Sales is about one thing and one thing only: closing deals.

Marketing when done correctly is about one thing: sending a single simple message that sticks.

You will know good marketing because you remember the simple message. You will not remember bad marketing because the communication is muddled, too complicated or isn't geared toward a single business objective. An example of that is trying to emphasize a product or services convenience but spending too much time on other things.

Every sale done well will involve negotiation and ideally a win for both parties. If you can learn to negotiate you can likely sell. I recommend avoiding "techniques" and focus on the process of closing the deal or the negotiation.

Now here is the exercise: Both sales and marketing require that you deliver a simple message in a very succinct and direct manor. You would think that being in the military it is easy but once you get excited about a product or service because you are passionate you will commit verbal vomit.

Try recording yourself with your phone or a voice recorder. Practice delivering a simple message about something like the phone over and over again. Then try introducing yourself over and over again until you clean out what is unclear or unnecessary.

Hope that is helpful.

John Muchmore ⋅ Saddle Brook, NJ North Jersey Truck Center, Inc ⋅ 35 years experience

Education is terffic and you should always exposure youself to any and all new ideas. That being said, the most valuable step in your carreer is to apply to a company who offers great sales training( some have been mentioned) followed by placing you in an actual sales position. Success in selling starts with a super charged passion for the product or the service you would be selling.You have to feel whatever you sell is the best 100% with no reservation.So choose wisely for that will have a huge effect on your success. Thank you for your service!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Duane Martin ⋅ Winfield, IL IBM ⋅ 35 years experience

Several good answers have already been provided focused on selling. I would reinforce two books that have already been mentioned: "The Little Red Book of Selling" by Gitomer (Gitomer was mentioned but not this specific book) and "The Challenger Sale". There is one more that is outstanding and that is "Hope is not a strategy". Also, if you'd like to talk this through a bit, I'd be glad to have a phone conversation. I've been selling in the high tech industry for 30 years and I've done some mentoring along the way.
Most importantly, thank you for your service! Duane

Gilbert Bolibol ⋅ Colorado Springs, CO Cintas Corporation ⋅ 12 years experience

Tom Hopkins "Low Profile Selling" is an excellent book to start with. This is a great book to build your selling skills.

Emanuel Carpenter ⋅ Alpharetta, GA SDR Master Class ⋅ 20 years experience

Matthew:

Sales and marketing are two different beasts. I’ve worked in both worlds for several years.

Let’s start with sales:

The best way to learn to sell is to start selling something right away. It could a product or service that you created. You could start a website, create a lemonade stand, or write and sell a book. Or it could be a product from a company like Avon.

Many people say that Amway has a great sales training program. Even though selling Amway products is not the most glorious sales job, it might make sense just to get the training. Plus you can do it part time.

An entry-level sales position at a company known for great sales training could help as well.

Reading books can help but trends change. Books that were once considered classics are now deemed irrelevant. Topics in include solution selling, relationship selling, and now selling by teaching. You will pick up some tips in reading books but it won’t be as powerful as doing some actual selling.
I’ve read several sales-related books and even wrote some.

Here are five I recommend:

“The Challenger Sale” by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson (how to sell by teaching)

“Getting More” by Stuart Diamond (negotiation)

“The Accidental Sales Manager” by Chris Lytle

“What Every BODY is saying” by Joe Navarro (reading body language)

“Getting the Second Appointment” by Anthony Parinello (inside sales skills)

There are also tons of free resources online in the form of e-books and webinars. My favorite source for webinars is www.brighttalk.com .

If you’re going pay for sales training, SAVO and Sandler Institute are well-known trainers.

And now you can get a degree in sales at school like this one: http://www.huizenga.nova.edu/salesinstitute/facility/#

In marketing, you have traditional marketing and digital marketing (online ads, search engine marketing, content marketing, etc.), which is extremely popular these days. In marketing , you can find free courses by Google, Lynda.com, Coursera, Udacity, and Udemy. There are also several free webinars available.

There are also degree programs at several universities.

As far as books go, find books by Jay Conrad Levinson.

For the latest and greatest in marketing, check out this website: https://growthhackers.com/

Ray McGarrigal ⋅ Danbury, CT Xerox Corp. ⋅ 15 years experience

Matt, Your service time is impressive. Perhaps, without knowing it, you have been using and improving your sales skills while in the service. Knowing the field of sales you would like to pursue is important. Each field is different. Therefore the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed are different. I worked for Xerox many years and then as a business consultant.
I have taught and helped develop training courses for selling in different environments.
Beth Smits suggestion for on line learning is excellent. John DeNoy's advise is sound and like him I make the same offer. Reach out if you would like to discuss further. Keep in mind selling is more science than art. People can learn to sell.

Paul Ulyett ⋅ Newport Beach, CA WorkForce Software ⋅ 30 years experience

Look for a company that invests in it's employees and provides both initial and ongoing sales training and career development.

Craig Hordlow ⋅ Naples, FL Red Bricks Media ⋅ 17 years experience

I've been doing marketing 17 years, and I consider the marketing bible "Your Gut Is Still Not Smarter Than Your Head " by Clancy and Krieg (I have no affiliation to them). Trust me, start with this reading, then go from there. I emailed the authors to see if I can get free copies for military. Below is a link to a few chapters available online.

http://www.copernicusmarketing.com/assets/33/your_gut_is_still_not_smarter_than_your_head.pdf

Josh Margolis ⋅ Columbus, OH CRM Insights LLC ⋅ 40 years experience

The lessons from my favorite books and courses boil down to:
1. Sales are made after you've established trust.
2. To establish trust, shut up and listen.
3. Listening gives you insight into how you can help your prospect.

Put LinkedIn to work. Join groups in industries that interest you. Make lists of people with whom you want to talk and to meet. Have coffee with local contacts. Always ask what you can do to help them.

Suggested reading: "A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life" by Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman, released April 7. Grazer is a Hollywood producer responsible for "Apollo 13," "Arrested Development" and "Empire." Grazer started out with lists of people he wanted to meet, and questions he wanted to ask, in order to get information, not sell anything. He wormed his way into the offices of the heads of studios by courting the secretaries, and assistants, and assistants to assistants--one of the biggest blunders sales reps make is treating the receptionist as the enemy. Who knows more about the boss than a spouse and the cleaning crew? (Another new book is a look at the inside workings of the White House and first families through the eyes of the staff.)

You've done well, 14 years in the Navy. Keep up the good work.

George Oestreich ⋅ Fort Lauderdale, FL First Service Residential ⋅ 40 years experience

Matt: My grass roots response is a question; for what do you have a passion? Example if you have a passion for exotic cars learn the product, where are the markets i.e. Miami and learn the techniques of sales as so many of the techniques are transferable----prospecting, working leads, follow-up, closing the sale, etc.

My belief is if you have a passion, the market (which now is global via Internet), techniques, product knowledge you have a good shot at being successful and happy at the same time.

Patrick Powers ⋅ Hanson, MA Liberty Mutual ⋅ 16 years experience

A lot of great responses. Several great resources:

Anything by Gitomer

Check out local Sandler Sales groups for boot camps or trainings

You also want to define "sales" a bit.

What do you want to be selling? Is there a specific product or industry you're interested in? Why sell? Is it for income or lifestyle?

Kathy Wesolowski ⋅ Northbrook, IL Allstate Insurance Company ⋅ 11 years experience

Thanks so much for your service. You have gotten a lot of great sales books and literature recommendations. I have been in sales, but my expertise is in Marketing. One of the easiest ways to get up to speed on Marketing and Advertising current events is to use social media. LinkedIn and Facebook are excellent sources for hooking up with companies that are recruiting for positions, but also to see the newest innovation and trends from Advertising Age and Adweek as well as large Marketing and Advertising firms like Leo Burnett. On LinkedIn specifically, connect with groups like Digital Marketing, Marketing and Communications, Social Media and Marketing, and Innovative Marketing. These group post articals often and help you to understand and get a handle on what's currently happening in business settings. Also, connect with large companies like Coca Cola, P&G, Allstate, etc. It's amazing waht you can learn about social media marketing from the posts that large companies put out. The great thing about learning via social media is that you can do it in spurts when you have time. Have 10 minutes, read a couple of articles on LinkedIn. Best of luck to you.

Bob Molluro ⋅ Wilmington, DE Benchmark Consulting Services ltd. ⋅ 30 years experience

The number one Marketing Guru in the world is Jay Abraham. Jay has been my mentor since 1985 and no one is close. Visit www.jayabraham.com and get thousands of dollars of free information regarding marketing and sales. Go to youtube.com and watch Jay in action. If you send me specific questions at ramco1@verizon.net I will be happy to assist you.
Warmly,
Bob

Claudio A ⋅ Norwalk, CT ⋅ 10 years experience

Hi Matthew, great advise here! If you'd like to get into marketing, it would be worthwhile to look into salesforce.com and learn how it works. If you master this tool, you could land a job at almost anywhere. Most companies esp in marketing used it and can pay pretty well if you know what you're doing. Hope it helps and best of luck!

STEVE SWENERTON ⋅ Boulder, CO SWENERTON CONSULTING, INC ⋅ 43 years experience

There have been many good suggestions about self-study resources. But the best advice was mentioned as accompanying a successful sales person as they do their work. There are many common denominators in successful selling, but there is no resource as valuable as talking with and accompanying people who are already doing it. Re marketing, this is a field that is changing very fast, but here again, spending time with a successful marketer and learning what worked for them and what did not is the best teacher. In both cases, being a good listener and learning what the customer has to say and how you can best respond is the best approach.
I have been in both domestic and international sales and marketing for over 40 years with three different companies in three different industries and I would be happy to communicate with you either by phone or by email.

Sales and marketing is always exciting and I am sure you will enjoy it!

Best of luck!

Kevin Ruse ⋅ Santa Clara, CA Kevin Ruse + Associates Inc. ⋅ 25 years experience

Looks like you've got some great suggestions from several people in the sales and marketing field. For what it's worth, I am in the technology field and often get training on www.lynda.com. They are not free, but they do offer sales and marketing courses as well as technology courses.