Ask a random person how they feel about sales and you’re likely to hear one of the following:
“I could never do that job.”
“I don’t know if I’d be any good at it.”
“I’d be a total natural.”
The truth is usually a bit more complicated, as there are many who never thought they’d be any good at sales who find themselves excelling at it, and others (usually extroverts) who crash and burn in a number of months.
For everybody else, sales remains something they only deal with when they’re in the market for a new product, or as an abstract concept from movies and television.
It shouldn’t be this way. Everybody should try their hand at sales at some point in their career. Not only can it give you a different perspective on one of the most prolific professions in the world, it can also teach you valuable skills that you can then carry with you through the rest of your career, and life.
Here are seven reasons why everyone should have at least one sales job at some point in their life:
1. You can make great money
Sales has changed more people’s lives than perhaps any other profession in the world. It gives people opportunities to make more money than they ever thought possible, and without having to earn an advanced degree. If you’re someone who is financially-driven, or looking to save up for the future (or for your own business venture), there’s probably no better option than going into sales.
2. It will teach you grit
Grit is a critically important life skill, and there’s no better job suited to teach you grit than sales. Not only do you have to constantly keep proverbially rolling a boulder uphill, you also have to restart the climb at the end of every month or quarter. When it comes to grit, you have to develop quite a bit of it to survive (let alone thrive) in sales.
3. It’s a great way to learn about business
Quite a few of the world’s most successful CEOs started their careers in sales, whether it’s Mark Cuban or Salesforce founder Marc Benioff. There’s a good reason for this: learning sales can give you a look at how business is conducted, from the early stages of prospecting, all the way through post-closing support. It teaches you how to deal with people, how to make deals happen, and how to bring in new business. If you have business aspirations or just want to better understand how commerce works, sales is the best place to learn.
4. You’ll learn how to handle rejection
Everyone will deal with rejection at some point in their life, and, no matter what, it can hurt. That’s why having some sales experience can be so important; learning how to deal with rejection and continuing to push forward is a great life skill to have, and it’s a skill that salespeople develop early on in their tenures. While no one wants to feel the sting of rejection, salespeople learn how to cope with it and channel it into productive behaviors.
5. You’ll appreciate what millions of people do for a living
It’s great to get a peek into other people’s lives, and there’s no better way to learn to appreciate what salespeople go through than to experience the job first-hand. Usually, after someone has worked in sales, they’re much more sympathetic to the plight of the sales rep than they were before, which is never a bad thing. Once you’ve tried it, you might not be so hard on the next sales rep that comes your way.
6. It can be fun and exciting
While sales does come with lots of stress, it’s also fun, rewarding, and exciting. No two days are ever the same, you get to meet and talk to all sorts of different people, and the competitive nature of the profession can often bring out the best in those who thrive under pressure. It’s not easy, but there are millions of people who wouldn’t dream of doing anything else. For this reason alone, it’s certainly worth a try.
7. You just might love it
At the end of the day, too many people make assumptions about sales that aren’t based on anything concrete. It’s a fun and rewarding job, and it can change your life for the better, affording many people a lifestyle that they could only have dreamed of.
Sales is definitely not for everybody, but contrary to popular belief, there isn’t one personality type that thrives in the role. Extroverts, introverts, old and young can excel in sales, so there’s really no reason to believe that you won’t. But the only way you can ever know for sure is to try it.
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