How to Get Into Sales With No Experience

How to get into sales with no experience: apply for entry roles built for beginners, such as SDR, BDR or inside sales, and prove the two things those roles test: you can start conversations with strangers and you keep going after a no. Collect numbers from any job where you persuaded people, practise prospecting on your own before you apply, and run the interview like a sales call. Employers hiring for these roles expect to train you.

I see sales from both sides. Since 2022 I have coached more than 2,000 adults in Germany's publicly funded career programmes, working on career direction, CVs and interview practice. I also run Ripe Leads, a B2B lead generation agency in Vilnius with a team of four, two of them sales reps. If you are thinking about a career change into sales, this is the advice I give.

What a sales job involves

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) describes the work of wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives (opens in a new tab) in one line. They "contact customers, explain the features of the products they are selling, negotiate prices, and answer any questions." Their typical duties include identifying prospective customers "by using business directories, following leads from existing clients, and attending trade shows and conferences," negotiating prices and terms, and following up after the sale.

The BLS also describes inside sales representatives, who often get new clients by "cold-calling" organisations: calling "potential customers who are not expecting to be contacted."

That last part decides whether you will like the job. In an SDR or inside sales role, a large part of your day goes into starting conversations with people who did not ask to hear from you. If that sounds exciting, keep reading. If it sounds like a nightmare, look at account management or customer success, where you work with existing customers.

Sales career facts worth knowing first

Two points stand out. The BLS lists no work experience requirement, so employers expect to train you. And most openings come from people who leave or change jobs, so roles keep opening even in a flat market.

Entry roles that hire people new to sales

SDR or BDR (sales development representative, business development representative). The most common way into B2B sales. You research companies, write first emails and LinkedIn messages, make calls and book meetings for a closer. You learn the hardest skill first: getting a stranger to reply. Ripe Leads has a buyer-side guide on what an SDR does and what the role costs a company (opens in a new tab), which is useful reading before an interview because it shows the job from the hiring manager's chair.

Inside sales representative. You handle the whole sale by phone, email and video, often for smaller deals. More closing, shorter cycles.

Retail or field sales. Selling face to face to consumers. Lower entry bar, fast feedback, and the numbers you produce look good on a CV for a B2B role later.

Account coordinator or sales support. You prepare quotes, contracts and follow-ups for a sales team. A slower route, but it shows you the whole process before you carry a target.

Get sales experience before you have a sales job

Hiring managers for entry roles want evidence that you can handle rejection and track your own numbers. You can create that evidence in a few weeks:

• Sell something yourself. Used items online, a freelance service, tickets for a local event. Write down how many people you contacted, how many replied and how many bought.
• Take a target at your current job. Upsell, sign up members, raise funds for a club. Any number with a "from" and a "to" counts.
• Practise prospecting. Pick ten companies in an industry you like, find who would buy a specific product from them, and write a first message to each. Bring the best three to your interview as work samples.
• Learn the tools. Free versions of CRM software let you log contacts and stages. Mention the one you used by name.

Write a CV that reads like a sales pitch

A sales hiring manager reads your CV the way a buyer reads a cold email: fast, looking for one reason to say yes.

• Put a one-line profile at the top that names the role: "Career changer from hospitality moving into B2B sales development."
• Under each job, lead with a number. "Sold the most add-ons on the evening shift for four months" beats "responsible for customer service."
• Add a short "Sales practice" section with your own selling experiments.
• Cut anything that does not support the story of someone who talks to people and moves them to act.

If you are applying in Germany, the format rules differ from the US and UK. My guide to the German CV format covers the Lebenslauf.

Treat the interview as a sales call

The interview tests the job itself. The interviewer is the buyer, the role is the deal and you are the product.

1. Research the account. Know what the company sells, to whom and who its competitors are. Prepare one question about their sales process.
2. Discover before you pitch. Ask what a successful first six months in the role looks like. Then answer with examples that fit that picture.
3. Handle the objection. Expect one, most likely "you have no sales experience." Answer with your numbers and your work samples, and do not argue.
4. Close. At the end, ask about the next step and when you will hear back. A sales manager hiring for a role that books meetings wants to see you ask for one.

In my career coaching we practise these questions out loud until the answers sound like you. Saying an answer once in your head does not count as preparation.

Your first 90 days in the job

The first months decide whether you stay in sales. Track your own activity and results every week, even if your manager does not ask: messages sent, replies, meetings booked, deals. Ask your best colleague whether you can listen to their calls. Ask for feedback on one call a week. Every rep has bad months, and a weekly record lets you see whether a bad month is a trend or noise.

How to get into sales: where to start

Sales rewards people who keep a record and keep going. If you are deciding between sales and another path, or need help with the CV and the interview, book a call. In career coaching we work out whether sales fits you and prepare the applications together. If you would rather build your own business than sell someone else's, read founder-led sales.