As a business owner constantly recruiting prospective sales partners, I have spoken with and met many experienced salespeople in our industry. I've also met many newbies to our industry, who are considering selling for the first time - since they've heard it's a lucrative career with residual income opportunity in an industry that will not be going away (at least we all hope this to be true).

With so many experienced and inexperienced salespeople entering new industries, how do you truly learn the industry and become a "professional salesperson?"

As I sat down to reflect on this question, I starting writing very simple, common sense answers. And yet, I'm amazed how many people I speak with do not or have not followed the protocol outlined below - and these are the sales agents that always say to me "why am I not earning as much as the other guy who sells in my neighborhood?"

1. Find a mentor that is a proven entity in your business. Learn from others who have made mistakes before, whether this means finding the right mentor that matches your personality, ethics, background, etc. And as importantly, identify salespeople that you wish to emulate. By doing a bit of research, it's relatively easy to locate the superstars in your business. Call that person and join his or her team as an assistant and become a sponge. As Jim Collins wrote in his famous business book "Good to Great," get the right people on the bus and make sure all of your people understand your strategic direction.

2. Leverage Industry Publications - As part of your professional approach to your business, spend time each week reading articles and sharing your insights through blogs or other communication tools. It's a great way to learn more about your business and to position yourself as an 'expert' in your industry.

3. Attend Trade-Shows. Yes, they can be expensive including travel, entertainment, etc, but it's well worth the investment to attend a conference, meet key players and to get a real pulse on your industry. Whether you attend the National Show, a local show or shows dedicated to specific subsets of your business, what a great use of 2 days. In the long run, I would suggest that these 2 days and $1,000+ investment will prove more beneficial than your making cold calls and even closing a few deals. It's all about the relationships, and powerful partnerships are developed face-to-face.

4. Ask for Help! - Tell your current company that you want to grow and need advice and help how to do so. So many sales agents work in a vacuum and don't use the resources that are at their disposal.

5. Learn by doing - Yes, there are lots of books, manuals, websites, 2-day seminars and other resources published to learn about your industry. As a new salesperson, get out there, meet some smaller customers to get your feet wet, make some mistakes and never be scared to say to a prospect "I don't know but will find out for you later today."

I've told all of our new salespeople (whom are new to our industry) that even after just 1 hour of training, that they know more than the average customer. Will they know every detail? Of course not, but if you speak with confidence and truly care about your client, then you are doing a real service for them.

So many sales agents will not really learn until they are on the front-line with their client. It's like learning math in school and the teacher shows you how to do the equation on the blackboard. It looks so easy and actually makes sense until you try it later that evening at home and have no idea how to solve the equation. Get out there, make some mistakes. My only advice is not to make your first cold call to Wal-Mart - better to start with the local neighborhood prospect - what's the worst thing that could happen - you don't get the deal!

There are many ways to better yourself within your industry. Do not accept mediocrity and keep pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone in order to realize the success that you desire.