You’re Not Suitable for Sales: Part 5

You’re really not suitable for sales.

If you’re not a self-starter. Sale people need to be motivated enough to look for their next sale, their next customer and their next prospect. If you’re someone who does not fit into this category, then you need to relook at your career choices.

If you are not willing to take the time to understand your customer. Studying and understanding the customer’s needs is the primary job of the sales person. If you do that, half the sale is done. But if you’re not willing to put in the time and effort to understand your customer, you are in the wrong field.

If you fear rejection. Sales is fraught with rejection. It may be because the customer is not ready, it may be because your product is not exactly what the customer needs or wants, it could be that the customer has other priorities for their finances. The fact is customers will walk away time and again without purchasing from you. Understand that this is part of the business and move on. If you don’t handle rejection well, you’re not really cut out for sales.

You don’t take ownership for your sales. Many sales persons love the commission. However, they will not own the effort to justify their commissions. Their customers are distraught because they can never contact them when needed. They have little knowledge of the products or services they are offering. Some don’t even know where their customers are located. Sales people maintain contacts with their customers, they study their products and product offers and they make sure that the customer is taken care of.

You don’t take ownership for your mistakes. You oversell your product, you ignore the supply shortage and commit an overzealous delivery schedule, you miscalculate the business volume and punch in an incorrect demand. And when things go sideways you blame your production department or supply chain. I’ve even seen people blame the customers for their gaffes. If you’re this kind of person, you’re not meant for sales as you cannot handle a high-pressure job.

And you need not worry if you’re not cut out for sales. You can excel in other fields. You just need to pick the one that is right for you.