I got into sales by default. Early in my career, I was an implementation consultant (professional services) and was quickly promoted to team manager – with no training or coaching. My peers were now working for me. Let’s just say I did not do much right as a first-time manager since I am an overachiever and expected everyone else to be like me. Well, that did not work out well, so they went to my management and pretty much said “it’s her or us.” They then moved me into sales.
I was again in the same situation – I was early in my sales career and I had no sales training (similar to no management training). And they asked me to close 4 deals in 6 months. Luckily, I knew the products and services since I had implemented them. However, in the past year the team of 4 sales people selling this particular product had only sold 2 to date. I did what I knew best – I asked a lot of questions and I ended up closing 10 deals. My paycheck went up substantially, and right from there, I knew that I loved being a sales person. I loved the flexibility, the problem solving, the paycheck, the travel, and so much more. I was sold.
Do You Love Your Job?
When you wake up on Monday morning and start your week, are you excited to go to work, or would you rather have a root canal? If you wake up Monday morning and dread going to work, it could be that:
- You’re in the wrong profession
- You’re at the wrong company
- You don’t like your current manager
- You don’t like your customers
- You don’t like the people you work with
- You’re traveling too much or not enough
- You have too much administrative work
- You’re not getting paid appropriately for your effort
- You don’t like being micro-managed
- You don’t like what you sell
- You don’t like to have your income based on performance
What’s the Issue?
I could go on and on. Think about why you are in sales and assess if this is the right job for you. Period. End of story. If you say “Yes, I love being a sales person” but you dread Monday mornings, then assess what the issues are and resolve them.
I have always believed that I was blessed to fall into the sales profession. Many times, bad things lead to great things. I absolutely love being a sales person. Do you?
Janice Mars, Principal and Founder of SalesLatitude, is a sales performance improvement consultant and change agent focused on growing top performers to impact bottom line growth. With more than 30 years of experience as a senior business and sales executive, she helps companies build successful sales teams by maximizing their time and resources, selling from the buyer’s point of view, and strengthening the effectiveness of leadership. View my LinkedIn profile | Twitter
