Many sales professionals come to a point where the thrill of sales starts to fade and the desire for a new challenge grows. More than half of Americans are considering making a career change. There are many rewarding opportunities out there for sales professionals.

Explore career change options for sales professionals and find out how to transition out of a sales career and into something new.

How To Get out of a Sales Career

Transitioning from a sales career into something new should start with assessing the skills and experiences one has gained throughout their current role, such as communication, negotiation, and client management. Exploring fields that appreciate these skills, such as marketing, business development, customer success, or staffing and recruiting, can open doors to exciting new roles. By using their professional network, sales professionals can discover insights and opportunities within these industries.

By using those existing skills, these are great career change options for sales professionals who are looking for a new role:

1. Business development manager: While this role still involves selling, it is more strategic. It focuses on long-term growth strategies rather than short-term targets.
2. Customer success manager: Transition from winning sales to making sure customers are satisfied, which allows sales professionals to use their people skills in a different context.
3. Marketing specialist: Move into a role that supports sales through content creation, market analysis, and campaign management.
4. Consulting: A consulting role allows a sales professional to leverage their expertise to advise companies on improving their sales strategies and processes.
5. Business or franchise ownership: Running a business allows sales professionals to use their sales skills to grow the business, but it also requires managing operations and strategy. With a franchisor’s support, sales professionals may have an easier time than trying to start a business from the ground up.

Each of these career change options for sales professionals offers a way for people to use their existing skills in a new arena, broadening their career scope while keeping a link to their sales background.

Sales to Staffing: A Natural Transition

The staffing industry is a robust field where sales experience is invaluable. This industry allows a former sales professional to harness their interpersonal communication skills in new, impactful ways. Talent recruiters and sales professionals have many common skills, including relationship-building, highlighting or promoting a product or candidate, overcoming objections, negotiation skills, and pipeline management. Additionally, many sales professionals have developed strong relationships within their community that they can rely on in the staffing world.

The U.S. staffing industry has experienced robust growth in recent years and had an estimated worth of $201.7 billion in 2023, according to Staffing Industry Analysts. This surge is attributed to more companies relying on staffing agencies to fulfill their temporary employee needs. IBISWorld reports that the number of temporary employees is rising faster than the population. The research firm predicts that the number of temporary employees will jump by 12.5% in 2024.

Why AtWork is the Perfect Fit

By becoming an AtWork franchise owner, a sales professional is not giving up their old career. Instead, they are using their skills in a different way. AtWork franchisees spend their days giving sales pitches to clients, managing a team, and developing business strategies. Many AtWork franchisees come from a B2B sales background, finding success by applying their people skills and business acumen in a new industry.

No experience in the staffing industry is needed to become an AtWork franchisee because the franchisor provides a solid foundation. With comprehensive support and a proven business model, AtWork helps franchisees thrive while contributing positively to their local communities. Plus, investing in an AtWork franchise practically pays for itself. Franchisees pay 7% of gross revenues or royalties and .5% for marketing for the franchisor’s entire suite of support, including payroll funding and payroll tax processing. Those two categories alone can cost an independent staffing agency up to 15.5% of its revenue.

Ready to explore the perfect career change opportunity for a sales professional? Get started with AtWork today.