Pursuing a career path in sales and marketing can be a challenging experience. Everyone who has been down that path before has a horror story to share, whether it’s about a terrible employer, the client from hell, or a personal blunder, but don’t let that discourage you. Pursuing a career in sales and marketing can be difficult, but it can also be a very rewarding path to take. These three tips might just help you make a name for yourself in this field.

Refine Your Skills

Sales recruiters will look for applicants who have strong marketing, social media, and general communications skills. Research shows that sales representatives with strong marketing chops bring in approximately 25% more profits than those without such skills. In addition, nearly 80% of those who know their Instagram from their Snapchat outsold sales representatives who didn’t incorporate any social media into their strategy. Honing and refining your skills as a marketing professional is a surefire way to ensure that you’ll be an asset to the company you work for.

Find Your Niche

In any field, finding a niche is a strength. It can give you motivation and autonomy, and it can make you stand out during the application process. Most sales recruiting firms are looking for people who fill a specific space and excel at it. This can not only help you as an individual who wants a career in sales and marketing, but it can help your company. Having extensive knowledge in one field can make you a unique candidate for a sales position, and the more diverse a sales team, the better!

Be Persistent

At its heart, sales is a purely social business. The more persuasive and people-centric you are, the more results you’ll yield. Persistence is also a tremendous asset to any sales associate. Almost 50% of sales representatives will give up after one negative answer. Your job is to be the kind of person who keeps asking until you get the ‘yes’ you’re looking for.

Skills, specificity, and perseverance are among the most sought-after qualities in a candidate for a sales position. Developing these three traits could not only help you create a meaningful career in sales, they could help you grow as an individual. So if you think you have what it takes to become a grade-A sales rep, don’t hesitate to pursue your career!