Rodney Dangerfield built his comic career on a signature tagline: “I get no respect.” Unfortunately, there are far too many salespeople who suffer from the Dangerfield syndrome – either they feel they get no respect or, worse, they act that way. They walk around with sullen expressions and a woe-is-me outlook. They are selling sympathy rather than solutions. If we are describing you, study this carefully. Hold your head high and reflect the pride of your profession. Selling is a great field. It has advantages that few other careers can claim.
1. Selling solves problems and fulfills needs.
What you’re selling will either relieve pain or provide pleasure. Depending on what you sell, customers will be better able to solve problems, make more money, serve other betters, enhance their self-esteem, improve their knowledge, or fulfill a heart’s desire. When you do your job, you help people get what they want out of life.
2. Only your efforts and creativity limit your potential.
Selling is the classic example of pay for performance. This explains why so many high-energy, focused people are attracted to sales. Their level of achievement and income has no ceiling.
3. Selling provides an opportunity to work with people.
Are people exasperating? Absolutely. Will they give you heartaches, headaches, and stomachaches? Without question. But they are also fun, exciting, and challenging. As a salesperson, you experience this exhilarating challenge every time you go to work.
4. Selling may be the purest form of empowerment.
When you sell, you must solve problems on the spot. You are accountable for solving a customer’s problem then and there. While everyone else in your company may be debating the pros and cons of empowerment, you are living it.
5. Selling is a psychological high.
Stand outside any factory and study the faces of the workers leaving their shift. Are you witnessing the “joy of victory” or the “agony of defeat”? Now, look at any salesperson who has just closed an important deal, landed a new customer, or solved a current customer’s problem. You’re watching a winner.
6. Selling makes you test your mettle every day.
Every time athletes step onto the playing field they have to prove themselves. They’re only as good as their next performance. Sales provides you the same opportunity to show your stuff.
7. Selling provides immediate feedback on your performance.
It’s also unmistakable. The reactions you get from buyers leave no doubt of how you’re doing. You can use that feedback to improve constantly. Every time you present yourself and your product, you have a chance to sharpen your skills.
8. Selling generates revenue.
A company makes money only when a customer decides to buy its product. You help the customer make that decision. As long as you’re generating sales, you have little reason to worry about job security.
9. Selling is the direct communication link between the customer and the company.
Salespeople are in the best position to monitor market trends. Your customers tell you exactly what’s right and wrong with your product what to improve, and what to leave alone. You hear about their pains and frustrations, and you hear about their dreams and aspirations. You are the eyes and ears of the company. When you speak, you describe the future of the company.
10. Selling provides a path for upward mobility.
Sales is a highly visible office in most companies. When you succeed, everyone in your company, as well as your competitors, knows it. Your chance for advancement increase in direct proportion to your sales success.
11. Sales prepares you for other careers.
The on-the-job training you get in sales is unparalleled. You succeed in sales only by being an effective presenter, psychologist, sociologist, planner, peacemaker, negotiator, consultant, leader, follower, financier, and deliverer.
If you are thinking about taking up sales as a career or taking sales more seriously, we recommend you check out our free eBook: Why Salespeople Fail, and What You Can Do About It
