Once upon a time I had a great sales job.

A while ago I had the opportunity to work with with a sales organization that had an amazing system, and incredible marketers. They were masters at the art and science of sales. They could present and close with the best of them.

I noticed that some of them would have very good weeks and make over ten thousand dollars in a single week. However, not all weeks we be that great.

I also noticed that the sales managers would bring in an average income of well over ten thousand dollars every single week. And they did this without putting in the hours or effort of the marketers. They would show up from time to time, look at the sales volume totals, smile, and then walk back to their office.

I learned 3 life-changing secrets from this experience...

1. Sell the right people.

Marketers sell customers.

The dirty work was done by the marketers. Some marketers would work six days a week, and dial their phone 300 times in a day. Some came in before the sun was up and stayed after it was dark. Some of the best sales reps I have ever known fit into this group. But they were selling the wrong people. And their unstable income was proof of that.

Sales managers sell lead providers and the marketers.

Sales managers played a smarter game. They pitched the lead providers on why their sales floor was the place for their leads. They would then turn around and sell the marketers how they had access to the best leads, and how working for them was the marketers best option.

2. Create leverage.

Every time a sale went through, the sales managers earned a decent percent. Instead of selling customers, they could go recruit new marketers to work for them that would make them even more money.

Sales managers leveraged themselves by having mid-level managers take on some of their responsibilities. This leverage gave the sales managers more time to recruit new marketers, or get more leads, or just go do their own thing for a few hours.

3. Sell a product or service that pays residual commissions.

Sales managers included a monthly charge on all sales made to the customers. This meant that their residual income would increase with each new sale that was made.

The marketers would never see a dime of this recurring income. The only way a marketer could increase their income on the sales floor was to request more leads and work more. The marketers would have to start each new week at zero sales volume. This put a lot of pressure on marketers. No sales, no income for the week.

Sales managers made consistent money. If a marketer had a bad week, there were enough other sales made throughout the sales floor to still pay the sales managers extremely well. Plus they had the income from continual charges to customers previously sold.

Want to be a top income earner? Figure out how to implement the 3 secrets outlined above. Do that and you won't have to worry about finding a new sales job. Do that and you can retire earlier than expected.