Should You Start a Career in Sales? Here are 5 Questions to Ask Yourself First.
Sales careers are growing in popularity with many people being drawn to the perceived strong earnings and ability to effectively run your own micro-business.
With that considered, should you start a career in Sales? Here are 5 questions to ask yourself first:
1. Do I enjoy connecting with people?
Salespeople need to enjoy and thrive in environments where they’re speaking to or networking with others. Generating leads, negotiating deals and attending events will all involve interacting with others. If you don’t enjoy being in the mix of constant collaboration then a career in sales may not be for you.
2. Am I competitive?
Most sales environments are competitive, mainly as it is one of few careers where your rate of success is directly attributed to a number that can be compared to others. There are rarely any grey areas in sales, you’re either a top performer or you’re not, based on your metrics.
If you aren’t competitive and don’t embrace the concept of competing against others, a sales career may be both intimidating and overwhelming.
3. Am I resilient?
Sales careers are extremely challenging and can be mentally and physically exhausting. Rates of burnout are on the rise, mainly due to the month on month pressures of needing to overachieve against a quota.
You need to ask yourself whether you’re resilient enough to weather these challenges and come out the other end enthused to do it all over again, month in, month out.
4. Am I truly driven?
An ingredient I see in all top-performers is a drive and passion that exceeds the norm. Irrespective of what is going on around them, they remain focussed and committed to achieving their desired outcomes.
This level of drive allows them to perform consistently without being sidetracked by internal changes and company instability.
Ask yourself what motivates you and whether that is something that is deep-rooted or surface level.
5. What is my why?
When considering a sales career, you’re naturally going to have a reason for thinking about enrolling in the first place. Spend time qualifying whether your ‘why’ is compelling enough to warrant making this move.
If you want to become a salesperson solely because of money or believing it’s an easy path to riches, I would encourage you to reconsider a career aligned to your passions.
Sales is tough and anyone that tells you otherwise is likely experiencing a temporary sense of gratification. Only choose this path if it is something you feel an adept hunger and desire for.
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Disclaimer: All views expressed in this article are my own and do not represent the opinions or views of my current employer or any entity whatsoever with which I have been, am now, or will be affiliated. This post is for informational purposes only and any advice should be followed at the reader's own discretion.
©2020 by Alex Alleyne