There are many out there who may be wondering if a career in sales is
right for them. Those who ask this question to themselves are often
filled with apprehensions caused, in large part, by their personal
experience with sales professionals, the opinions of their personal
network and the general public opinion of the sales industry.
They most likely have heard stories of people they know of who gave sales a try but who have more horror stories than success stories to share.
But asking the question, "is sales right for me?" is better if rephrased to "am I right for sales?"
Sales is not an Easy Job
An
erroneous and commonly held belief is that sales professionals spend
more time on the golf course than in a board room. While many sales
professionals do spend time entertaining clients on golf courses, that
time is earned time. Unless a sales professional is "playing hookie" and
shrugging off their responsibilities to spend a day on the lynx, time
golfing (or any other form of entertainment) comes only after a lot of
work and usually only as part of a sales cycle.
Sales is a tough job. If you are considering a sales job,
you must first understand that you will be expected to work very hard,
long hours before you can earn some of the privileges of being in sales.
Not only will your employer demand hard work from you, your clients,
too will expect that you are dedicated and committed to delivering on your every promise. Doing so takes hard work.
"Can I Handle Rejection?"
Many people have a hard time dealing with rejection. For those in the sales industry, rejection is part of the job. Consider an inside sales professional
who is charged with making 50 calls per day. The average inside rep
needs to make 25 calls before reaching someone who is interested in
learning more about the product or service the sales professional
represents. That means 24 rejections before success.
If you have
issues or challenges with being rejected, you will either need to learn
how to effectively deal with rejection or consider a different industry.
"Do I have a Strong Internal Drive?"
Many
sales positions offer plenty of autonomy. That means that much of your
business day will be up to you as to how the hours are spent. Without
strong, internal motivation and drive, those hours may not serve you
well in your quest for success.
Over-bearing managers
are somewhat common in the sales industry precisely as a result of
having a sales team of professionals that lack self-motivation. But
those sales professionals who usually have challenges and issues working
for an over-bearing managers are usually those who most need to have an
over-bearing manager looking over their shoulders and demanding more
activity.
If you are not certain that you have a strong enough
internal drive, that will get you up early in the morning and drive you
throughout the entire working day, know that sales will be a struggle
for you and success will be elusive.
"Am I Patient?"
Most
sales industries demand patience as potential customers usually prefer
to think carefully before making a buying decision. The days of hard closing a prospect are over and have been replaced with more patient reps who understand that consumers are more informed, have more choices and need consulting more than traditional sales reps to assist them in making a decision.
This approach demands patience, discipline and a strong set of sales skills.
Not everyone has the patience levels needed to be in a career which
results can take months to be realized. Couple the time that many sales
cycles take with the a need for the often neglected sales skill of
creating a sense of urgency with prospects and you will certainly
understand that without patience, anyone in sales is sure to struggle.
By Thomas Phelps
Sales Careers Expert
