The biggest reason why you should consider a career in sales

Have you ever cared about something? Have you ever seen the most amazing invention and went like “OMG everybody has to know about this!”?

I am writing this post too late. This should have been the first one on my blog. Out there so many young people are looking for their ideal career, one that can recognize their efforts. One where meritocracy is what counts.

Guys, stop looking for something new. Such an amazing job already exists, and has existed since the dawn of mankind. It’s sales!

My boss, right when I started, told me: “Sales is not going to be easy. If you’re crappy at it, you’re going to earn the lowest wage in this company. But if you’re great, you can earn the highest wage in this company”. Totally true.

I have been trying to communicate that to my friends who are still looking for job inspirations and, unfortunately, their answer is always “I’m not cut out for sales. I don’t like it”. I have had this conversation many times, the last one some weeks ago, with my very best friend from Erasmus times in Sofia. She told me:

“I have tried to do sales, I’m not enjoying it. I don’t understand why I should tell people to buy something, I don’t want to convince or force anybody. I don’t want to tell them what to do“. Well, this is not sales.

When you’re selling, you are not trying to convince anybody. The core of this job is to listen to your interlocutor’s problems and wishes and find a solution for them, so that they can accomplish their goals (being that owning a house or having a fancy dinner).

I guess that the “scary” part of sales is what’s behind success: a lot of hard work and accepting many refusals. That goes against human nature – we want to feel appreciated, recognized and accepted by our peers. But keep in mind that a rejection when you are selling is NOT a rejection to your person, but to your offer. Consider that as a great, very honest feedback to improve your techniques.

And most of all, you can’t sell anything. You have to believe in what you are selling, you have to buy it before others can. No product or service on earth is perfect. Nothing is, realistically. But choose a company that is selling something that you truly believe is the best possible thing a company can create.

You will do yourself a favor, because you will be happy at work and won’t feel much stress when hearing people’s no’s. You will do a favor to your customers, because they will see that what you provide is really the best they can get.

Extra perk: if you work in sales, you can pretty much work in any field you like, because any organization needs money coming in to survive. The sky’s the limit.

Don’t throw away the opportunity to have such an exciting career. You have the chance to actively support the cause you care about the most – and get money for it!