I had one of those sales appointments last night that just made me smile. Why? Because I had two great hours of conversation with two great people who ended up buying my product. It was the perfect night, and as I thought about our little meeting on the way home, I started to think of all the reasons why the life of a sales professional can be very rewarding and satisfying to those persons willing to do what it takes. So let’s get to it, here are10 reasons why the life of a sales guy/gal can and should be awesome.
1. You are the Boss: That’s right, it’s you, and nobody else. Sure, sales people usually have managers and may have other bosses, but when it comes down to it, you, the sales pro, are the boss, and don’t ever think otherwise.
2. You Control Your Financial Destiny: Want to make more money? No problem, work harder, faster, smarter. Want to make less money? No problem, take it easy, slow down, do stupid things to kill your success. Talk about the ability to choose, this is awesome!
3. You Needn’t Depend on Others: Although being a part of a team is great, there is also something very special about looking in the mirror and knowing your success or failure rides on you. This is one reason why I loved wrestling in high school. It was the one sport I did that was essentially singular, and all I had to do was focus on making myself stronger and more skilled each and every day. Even better, as we help ourselves to reach higher levels of greatness, we naturally influence others to achieve excellence as well. Such is the way the universe works and such is the life of a sales professional.
4. You Meet and Learn from Awesome People: As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, last night I met two wonderful people. They had a beautiful home, unbelievable artwork on the walls that we thoroughly discussed, and were avid car collectors. They, along with their home, radiated a feeling of happiness, abundance, and enriched living. This is why I take every opportunity to learn from prospects and customers. I honestly feel like they’ve got much more to teach me than I have to teach them.
5. You See the World: Whether you only travel in your own state or have the opportunity to travel the world, sales professionals get to go places every day they may otherwise not have been able to see and enjoy. In fact, whenever I make a sales appointment throughout Virginia and Maryland, I intentionally take back roads and new routes so as to enjoy the beautiful countryside and allow for God’s creation to inspire me.
6. You Live the Life of an Entrepreneur: This one goes along with #1, but every great sales person sees themselves as the boss, the brand, and the owner of their own business. Just this one paradigm shift will cause you to approach each and every day differently with a zest and zeal that otherwise simply doesn’t come without such responsibility. Remember, when done the right way, more responsibility always equals more freedom.
7. You can be a Rebel: Are you the type that marches to your own beat? If so, sales is likely your calling. This profession allows you to be original, take risks, and go down paths that the status quo hasn’t dared travail up to this point. Personally, I’ve always been this way. I simply don’t except the status quo way of doing sales by so many people and professions to be acceptable. As Seth Godin says, we should all be that ‘Unicorn in a Balloon Factory’.
8. You Set the Schedule: This benefit is huge. It allows you to be with your family and kids when you want to be. It allows you take go out with friend or take a vacation when you decide. As long as you are meeting your numbers, you’ll always be given free rein to come and go as you please. When it comes down to it, bosses and management only care about results, not how and with whom you spend your time.
9. You’re Always Being Pushed: I really like this one. Life stinks when it gets stagnant. Such is the case with so many jobs in the world today. Sales needn’t ever be that way. Because you’re in charge of your destiny, you have to make things happen each day. Goals are always on your mind. Looking ahead is constantly part of the picture. Such forced cognition is healthy, motivating, and inspiring.
10. You Learn How to Take Rejection: Some of you, like I did, learned this from asking girls to prom in high school. But for others, the profession of sales easily fills the void. Yeah sure, rejection sucks. It stinks. It’s frustrating. And it’s any other negative adjective you can come up with. But at the same time, rejection is a part of life. Those that understand how to handle it are successful. Those that allow it to beat them down and send them back to their cave end up frustrated and angry at the world. This is why rejection, for the most part, means little to me. It is what it is—an essential part of life.
So there are my top 10 reasons why I think the professional of sales is awesome. Now I’d be curious to know your thoughts. What would you add or take from the list? C’mon, join the conversation 
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
There you go Marcus,
Just like you, I love my job and I would never consider working in anything else than sales.
The freedom you get both in time, in money and in what you do is great.
If I wanted to I could do anything (almost) at the office and no one would complain, sure now I am the manager but all my salesmen can do the same.
As long as a salesman does his/her job no one will complain about an extra long lunch and extra cup of coffee and so on.
.-= Daniel M. Wood´s last blog ..Back To Work! Back To Work! Back To Work! =-.
Freedom is right brother, I hear ya. Keep rockin it!
G’Day Marcus,
You”spoke a book” as they say. David Ogilvy said,”The customer is not a moron. She is your wife.” I had along career in management and HR before starting my own business. Only then did I realize I knew nothing about selling. So I learnt.
It really wasn’t anything like I’d expected . Selling professionally required great personal and professional discipline. It required you to become really focussed on “the other guy,’ the client It was about finding out what mattered to them. That’s really rewarding.
When I read people on the web say that they have misgivings about selling, I just feel that they don’t know what they’re missing; they don’t know what they don’t know.
It’s a noble profession with some rather ignoble practitioners. I can think of no profession that doesn’t have its cheats, spivs and charlatans.
I’m pleased and proud that I’m a salesman. Years ago, I used to write a regular column in a Training magazine. Every column finished with there words. “but I’m only a consultant. I’m off to sell something to somebody”
Mat it ever be thus.
Make sure you have fun.
Regards
Leon
Dang Leon, that was some poetry in motion there my friend! Love your take, your words always exude the experience you bring to the table. Thanks for stoppin by
The learning rejection part is huge. Someone I read recently (may have been you) was talking about growing a business as being “failing forward.” Everyone talks about sales skills as a necessity for the small business in terms of growth, but there’s another dimension: sales teaches you to be resilient, and when something doesn’t work you keep going and try something else.
The only down side to this life is that the perfect theme song is Chumbawumba’s “Tubthumping”- and even I’m not that lame!
.-= Dave Marciniak´s last blog ..Water Garden Resources =-.
Great points Dave….btw, I love what you’ve been doing with your website. Keep teaching, informing, and standing out. Awesome!