Everything You Wanted to Know About Being a Sales Rep (But Were Afraid to Ask)

So you want to be in sales, eh? If you feel overwhelmed by or afraid of the sales world, this article goes out to you. Don’t let myths, hearsay, or tales from the sales floor dash your dreams of being a salesperson. If you’re new to the game or just getting interested in sales, you’re going to have questions. But you can’t get the answers you’re looking for if you don’t ask the right questions. To make it easy on you, we compiled a list of everything you wanted to know about being a sales rep (but were afraid to ask).

No, It’s Not As Cutthroat As You Think

In sales, it’s true that the higher the stakes, the more cutthroat the game. However, the salesperson that closes a multibillion-dollar merger is only as good as the sales team that supports them. Certainly there are all kinds of dubious characters in the sales world, from snake-oil salesmen to high-concept charlatans, but these days most salespeople understand that while you carry your own weight, you’re still a part of a team. Good teams have good leaders—with a good supervisor at your back, you don’t have to tread those nastier sales waters alone. Don’t believe the myth that the sales world is too cutthroat for you to be successful. Anyone with the desire to do sales can do sales.

You’re Not Always Going To Close Deals

After putting in all the time and effort with a prospect, it can frustrating when, despite everything you could’ve done, they don’t buy what you’re selling. The truth is, it happens. While we know salespeople need to bring in numbers (both customers and commissions) to survive, it also has to be understood that you’re not always going to close deals. The sales game, like many others, is feast or famine, so you have to approach your sales with that do or die mindset to get the sale, but if you don’t get it, don’t beat yourself up over it. There’s always more fish in the sea, and you can’t expend your energy worrying about the prospects that don’t sign, but rather focus on the ones that haven’t yet.

You Will Be Tied To Your Phone (If You’re Not Already)

Ask the average salesperson about how much time they spend on the phone and the answer will likely be somewhere in the neighborhood of “too much” to “only when I’m not sleeping”. In other words, your phone is your sword. Your ship. Your trusty sidekick that will keep you afloat in sales. Mobile phones today are incredible devices that let us sync our lives in our vain attempts to make order out of all this chaos, and as salespeople we have to utilize this tool to help us stay in touch with our customers and prospects, schedule meetings with the sales managers and rest of the team, and so much more. So, yes, in short, you will be on the phone. A LOT. (This could be a good argument to get your company to invest in a company phone for you.)

It’s All A Numbers Game (NOT!)

Having more and more leads doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll close more deals.  In sales prospecting, you can’t just willy-nilly contact just anyone. No, no, no. You have to have a targeted audience that you will be spending your precious time and energy on. Also, there is virtue in quality as opposed to quantity, which some salespeople seem to be unable to grasp. When you have quality leads, you’re going to have a better chance at closing those sales because they are actually interested in what you’re selling.

The Robots Are Going To Take Our Jobs!

While sales artificial intelligence is being used more widely to help companies solve a multitude of sales issues that continue to plague many different businesses around the globe, from sales analytics to research and CRM, the robots are not coming for our sales jobs. Flesh-and-blood salespeople are what still run the show, for now anyways. Now, this is a learning moment for human salespeople, because sales AI is very real and help assist a salesperson in doing a better job, and keeping that job. Sales AI, such as Spiro’s AI-Powered CRM, has proven to make our lives easier and more efficient, yielding higher sales results than ever before.

Don’t Waste Your Time With Social Media

Whatever. Social media accounts for a huge amount of revenue and it’s only growing from here. An entire new generation is coming of age and social media is where you sell to them. Anyone working in contemporary sales that doesn’t pay attention to social media, its audience, and the impact it has on sales, frankly has no business being in sales. That being said, use social media wisely to get your message out there to the audience that you want to reach. Social media platforms are fantastic for doing just that, and it’s raking in billions of dollars for companies each year. Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat, you need social media in sales.

You Have to Be Outgoing To Be In Sales

Whoever uttered this phrase should be tarred-and-feathered, because this couldn’t be further from the truth. While it is true that a disproportionate amount of salespeople are extroverted, Type-A, in-your-face, go-get-’em-Tiger types, there are plenty of salespeople who have found success in sales as introverts. Sometimes those domineering personalities are too much for certain people—where a strong handshake won’t do, a polite introduction might. Soft-spoken people are not necessarily thought of as salespeople, particularly due to this stereotype that tends to add a stigma to the job for people who are less-than-outgoing. Everyone is different and no one personality type has the sales game on lock-down. In fact, these are the seven personality traits of salespeople according to Harvard Business Review, so there.

You Sure Do Ask A Lot Of Questions

Okay, so maybe this post didn’t answer everything you wanted to know about being a sales rep, but we hope it answered some of the questions you were afraid to ask.