Not All Salespeople Are Evil

My chosen profession of sales takes a lot of abuse. People tell me, “You don’t seem slimy; why are you in sales?” Or, “you have an MBA and do sales?” Ouch. For some reason, just saying “salesperson” takes people back to their worst memories of our profession. Whether it be of a pushy car salesman (who only ranks higher than politicians in Gallup trust survey) or an annoying telemarketer calling at dinner. Yes, sales have some real characters, but isn’t that true for all professions? We probably take more than our fair share of funning because the assumption is we care only about money. Heck, I initially got into sales mainly for that reason. Would it help to know that salespeople start with a meager base salary? Or, when switching to this profession, you take a large base pay cut? Doesn’t help? Let me take a moment to explain why this job may be different than you think and, hopefully, give you a better understanding of who we are and why we do this job…

There is much more to what we do and why than money. Some of the brightest and grittiest people are also here. In general, salespeople care deeply about others despite getting regularly abused. Otherwise, it’s impossible to be successful in this job since your reputation is your lifeline, and in today’s world, that information is readily accessible to anyone. You’ll find many athletes here because we have a drive that comes from deep down and can take the abuse. Many of us also come from humble blue-collar backgrounds, myself included, and are often the first in the family to go to college. The best of us have been forced to overcome past obstacles that provided a source of motivation and determination. If you lived a week in the shoes of most people in sales, you’d witness early mornings, travel, and late nights.

That’s what most of us look like now. Let me explain why we do this job – and it’s not all about the money. I’ve fallen in love with the career for two core reasons: the direct feedback the job provides and the constant improvement required to stay at the top of your game. These aspects of my job keep me humble and motivated, and I’m always learning new things.

There are no certifications, professors, etc., of sales (which is crazy – there really should be!). There is no long-term job protection other than your results. This is what drives good salespeople to work on their craft manically. How would you respond if your boss hands you a dry-erase marker and says, “Sell me on what you do in 10 minutes”? Or how about you record yourself in front of your peers and then discuss your presentation strengths and weaknesses as a group? These are just some of the routines we will always be practicing – the real ABP of sales.

There aren’t many careers where your livelihood is so directly tied to performance. For example, you are grading teachers based on student's test scores. This is both controversial and difficult to do. Even in highly complex selling jobs, you can derive a direct correlation between the suitable activity and performance if managed correctly. The natural good salespeople demand this level playing field because they are wired to achieve based on their merits. As a sales manager, this is one of the most significant areas you must preserve about sales – keeping autonomy alive! You won't find a group more determined to control their destiny than us sales folks.

So, what about the myth that selling success is mainly about luck? Even my wife still occasionally asks if a big project win was lucky. As the famous quote says, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Good fortune happens to those who don’t make excuses and continually work on their craft in sales. Everyone might get lucky once, but nobody who has been doing this for a long time relies on that approach. “Hope is not a strategy,” as the other saying goes.

So, while sales might not be for everyone, the next time you encounter one of us, you might have more insight into what we do and why. We work hard at our jobs and have few guarantees of future success besides performance. For that risk and discipline, we can be rewarded at times generously. Most of us care, and our most valuable asset is our reputation. Here is hoping you have that experience with one of us salespeople soon!