Sales is a profession unlike any other. It’s the front line for all businesses across the world and keeps the economy humming along. There are close to 16 million salespeople in the United States, and they all have a lot in common.
From the Home Office in SLICKPOO, IDAHO
Here are The Top 10 other things that only a salesperson would understand:
10. The end of the month
There is nothing quite like the end of the month (or the end of the quarter) while working in sales. Not only is everyone going crazy trying to get as many deals in before deadline, but miracles can happen and complicated or difficult deals that never would have been done get closed. Everyone wants to get paid, so management pushes salespeople, and salespeople push their customers and make things happen while everyone goes just a little bit insane.
9. Bad leads
Some leads are just awful. In fact, there are many people who would argue that the vast majority of leads are really bad and there is only a small percentage that are actually effective. Obviously, there are many salespeople who don’t even get leads and have to generate their own business, but even they know what a horrible lead is. Disconnected phone numbers, unqualified customers, people who have no need for the product, people who scream at you to never call them again or ask how you managed to get their phone number. Sometimes the famous sales phrase “The leads are weak,” is 100% true.
8. The thrill of closing a deal
There are very few things in life that can be as exhilarating as closing a deal, especially when it’s a big or important one. Sales is full of ups and downs and the highs can feel absolutely incredible. Any experienced sales rep knows that a bad day can turn into an incredible one with just one deal. One of the biggest differences between a salaried job and a sales job is the opportunity to experience the direct rush of sales success.
7. Being in a slump
A sales slump is awful because not only do you feel off your game and have a hard time keeping a positive attitude while going through failure after failure, but you’re also faced with the terrifying prospect of not getting paid, or worse, losing your job. Some managers can make a slump even worse, especially if they have a bad management style. Everyone has their own methods to get out of a slump, and we at Payment Lynx can help you get out of one by recommending which actions to take, but even the absolute best salespeople in the world will go through a slump at some point in their careers.
6. Resilience
Psychological resilience is defined as an individual’s ability to properly adapt to stress and adversity. What most people don’t quite understand about sales is just how many times you have to hear a “no” before you get to hear a “yes.” Only the truly resilient will excel in sales, and only those who can brush off rejection and push through it will live extraordinary lives that their friends could only dream of. Shark Tank star and real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran once said that the difference between salespeople making $40,000 a year and those making $8 million a year is how long they spend feeling sorry for themselves after a failure.
5. Changes to the comp plan
Salespeople are one of the only professions who have to experiences changes to the way they get paid multiple times a year. Compensation plans get changed by upper management regularly, and it’s not usually to the benefit of the sales staff. Everyone’s been through it; management calls you in and tells you that the changes will help you make more money, and you and your co-workers grumble about how they keep changing it and paying you less and less. The only thing that’s guaranteed about your pay plan when you work in sales is that it will always keep changing.
4. Going from hero to zero
In sales, the phrase “what have you done for me lately?” signifies the fact that you’re only as good as your last deal. As soon as your month or quarter ends, you’re back to the bottom of the board along with everyone else. The most successful sales reps find their way to the top of the board time and time again, while everyone else fights their way through, but everyone starts out the same when the clock strikes midnight.
3. Empty promises
There is no one who is more skeptical of what people tell them than a seasoned salesperson. Usually when a salesperson is new to the job and a customer tells them that they are going to move forward with the purchase and will call them back tomorrow and get everything started, the salesperson gets excited because he or she believes them. But after a few months on the job, they know better. Customers constantly make promises that they don’t intend to keep, and any seasoned salesperson has learned to never count on a customer to get back to them, no matter how convincing they are.
2. Distrust
Unfortunately, being distrusted is something that just comes with the territory in sales. The general public tends to paint salespeople, especially merchant salespeople with a broad brush thanks to the actions of a select few that give the rest of us a bad name. But don’t let it get you down, just understand that it’s a reflexive reaction that you need to do a little bit of work to overcome. Be direct, listen to your customers, and do what you say you’re going to do and you’ll earn their trust.
And the Number 1 Thing only a salesperson would understand is…
1. Staying motivated
Unlike a salaried job, in sales if you don’t close, you don’t eat. This means that no matter what problems you have going on in your personal life, you absolutely have to stay energized and motivated if you want to succeed. Everyone has their own ways to stay motivated. Some people drink a ton of coffee, some people have pictures of their goals or families for motivation, and some are driven by that chip on their shoulder that only they can see.
I hope these blogs help motivate you to stay focused and get out in the field.
Have a great weekend,
David
Payment Lynx Daily 