8 Signs That You’ll Never Make it in Sales
Most people would love to earn the kind of money that high-performing sales reps make, but very few of those same people could hack it in the high-pressure world of sales. You need to be at least a little bit nutty to survive in sales. The prospecting, the rejection, the desperately shoveling a steak burrito into your mouth as you dial your prospect’s phone number in the few minutes of “lunch” you’re able to squeeze into your day – sales isn’t for everyone. But if the following signs seem familiar, then you’ll definitely never make it in sales.
1. You hate being out of your comfort zone
If you’re someone who doesn’t like change, or constantly having to adapt to circumstances, then sales won’t be a good fit for you. In sales, you’re constantly talking to people from all walks of life, each of whom requires you to adapt to their particular situation to make a sale. You’re also dealing with an ever-evolving market and economy, changing demands (and comp plans) from management, all while navigating the politics of the workplace.
2. Rejection slows you down
If you tend to dwell on rejection and other obstacles, then you’re going to have a very hard time in sales. Salespeople are essentially paid to deal with all of the “no’s” they encounter and push through to get to a “yes.” There are situations where you might be working on a deal for weeks or months, only to have it fall apart at the last minute. It takes a certain kind of person to brush off that kind of disappointment and keep plugging away. If this sounds like insanity to you, stick to a salary job.
3. You take things personally
Before I got into sales, I had already spent years in the restaurant business and doing manual labor, so being verbally abused didn’t affect me much. But to those who tend to dwell on what others say to them and take negative interactions personally, sales will feel like walking into a buzzsaw. Unless you can learn to let negativity roll off your back, you’ll never last in sales, no matter how great you are at it.
4. You can’t put yourself in other people’s shoes
Sales (and entrepreneurship) require a balance of being extremely selfish while simultaneously being empathetic. Selfishness is what drives us to pursue a career that has unlimited income potential and can give us the lifestyle that we dream of. But it’s empathy that makes us successful at these types of jobs, because creating value for others is the only way to make a great living in sales and in business. The best salespeople and entrepreneurs have struck this delicate balance perfectly.
5. You tend to be a pessimist
If you see the glass as half-empty, don’t even bother with sales. Irrational optimism is the only way to overcome the seemingly insurmountable odds you’ll be faced with, and pessimists won’t make it a few months before their character trips them up. Of course, people can change, and pessimists can to become optimists – but you better do it quickly since sales is sink or swim.
6. You don’t function well under pressure
Sales pressure is intense. There’s the pressure to hit quota, the pressure from clients to solve their needs, the pressure from sales support to help deal with issues, the pressure from yourself to succeed, all while your competitors are putting on the pressure trying to beat you. The only pressure that ever decreases in sales is the pressure in your competitor’s tires when you secretly let it all out when no one’s looking.
7. You’re not motivated by money
It’s perfectly ok not to be motivated by money, but if you’re not, then it’ll be very hard to justify what you will go through in sales. Let’s face it; people go into sales because they can make more money than in any other job. Of course, helping people is part of sales, but that alone usually isn’t enough to drive someone to keep pushing when the going gets tough. If money itself doesn’t interest you, just think about all of the cool things you could buy with it.
8. You don’t enjoy being a salesperson
If you don’t like salespeople and feel that it’s beneath you, or that it will be an embarrassing career choice, then we don’t want you anyway (you won’t be missed). Successful salespeople embrace what they do, and own it, along with multiple high-end German sports cars. Take the negative stigma attached to sales and forget all about it and all of your dreams may come true, or find another career doing something that salespeople would never do, like raising teacup piglets or harvesting artisan cheese.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in April 2017 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
