Thereās a persistent perception that sales is a ālast resortā job. I donāt know where it comes from, but you hear people say, āIām just a sales rep.ā
Iām tired of it! When you choose a sales career, youāre not settling for a second-rate job. Sales is a challenging profession you can and should be proud of. And it comes with many rewards.
- āUnlimitedā income. Few other jobs allow you to determine how high your income will go, often surpassing that of your boss.
- Independence. As long as youāre turning in results, most good sales managers will let you set your own goals, create your own plans and manage your own time.
- A sense of satisfaction that comes from being an expert and helping people solve problems.
- Personal growth. With markets, technology and product offerings constantly evolving, youāre always growing and learning something new.
But you probably already know all this. What you may not have thought of, however, is that sales experience is vitally important if you ever hope to have an executive level job.
Surprised?
Iām currently coaching a couple of professionals who are near the top of their non-sales careers and eager to move to the C-Suite. Unfortunately, they lack sales experience and thatās holding them down.
I know what youāre thinking: āWhat does sales have to do with being a COO or Division Vice President? Why would the head of finance or a business unit need sales experience?ā
Iāll tell you. It doesnāt matter what role you have; if youāre at an executive level, you are going to have customer-facing responsibilities, and thereās no better place than sales to learn how to interact effectively with customers.
You may be called on to help resolve customer satisfaction issues or to participate in important sales calls. You may need to speak at customer events. Yes, even COOs.
As a key representative of your company, youāll be expected to interface with your counterparts at other companies, where youāll need to be conversant in your companyās offerings and why people need them. Again, sales is the best place to develop this knowledge, because you hear directly from customers why they like what you sell.
Even if you didnāt need customer-facing skills, youād still need a thorough understanding of sales. Why? Because sales is the lifeblood of your business ā your company exists to sell something.
As a leader in your company, you need to be able to enter into discussions and decisions about top markets, top sellers, sales strategies and so forth. If you donāt understand whatās going on in your sales organization, you donāt understand whatās going on in your business. Itās that simple.
Back to my non-sales clients who want to move to the C-Suite. We are helping them develop their missing sales skills without rerouting their entire career paths. But oh how they wish they had garnered sales experience along the way.
