You’re thinking about where to start your career or maybe you’re thinking about a career change – either way, you’re reading this blog which means you’re thinking about whether B2B (Business to Business as opposed to B2C which is Business to Consumer) sales is the right choice for you.
Personally, I’ve enjoyed a successful career to date having started in sales in 1998 when, whilst at college, I got a part-time job cold calling for a national window firm. At the time of writing this, I’m a 39yr old homeowner, married with 3 kids, I run my own business and I’m a director of two others – the life my family lives and the material possessions and assets that I own along with many amazing memories that have been created are primarily down to the results I’ve achieved working in B2B sales.
I’m very confident that each reader of this blog will know at least one person who works in sales and does very well from it. Yet, despite it being well known that working in sales can be very rewarding, there remains a general distrust in the UK of the profession. Yes, there are bad, ruthless, self-interested, dishonest, immoral, and criminal salespeople out there BUT is there any industry or profession which doesn’t have bad examples amongst them? Politics, law enforcement, education, healthcare…I could go on and on. The point is that you shouldn’t be put off considering working in sales because of a few bad eggs; if that’s going to be one of your deciding factors, you may well struggle to find any career!
If you’re still reading and are still interested in whether sales is for you, here’s a list of questions to help you understand if you can build a successful career in sales:
- Are you at ease communicating on the phone/video call/email/in person with strangers?
- Do you cope well with consistent pressure to achieve results?
- Do you stay calm when problems occur that need fixing?
- Can you deal with rejection/losing and use the experience to be better for the next time?
- Are you genuinely interested in learning about other people?
- Are you a good active listener?
- Do you like to consistently learn new skills?
Hopefully, you can answer those honestly (you’re only lying to yourself if not!) and, if the answer to all of them is YES…..well, you certainly have the right attributes to, with the right guidance and leadership, build a successful career for yourself in B2B sales. If it’s a NO for all of them, a sales career is not for you. There’s nothing wrong with that though, your skills are just meant for something else in life. If it’s a NO for one, two or some of them, I would still suggest sales is not the best choice for you unless you feel extremely confident you can change the NO to a YES.
The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed a mention about the ‘right guidance and leadership’ – this is the next key point. You’ve got the attributes and motivation to work in B2B sales so you now need to find the best environment for you that will support you in fulfilling your potential and building a successful career in B2B sales. To achieve great results, you must work for a reputable company that provides an excellent product/service (which you believe in and can be passionate about) and has an excellent culture and support system for developing and retaining staff. Do your homework to make sure you choose a job and employer that can consistently bring out the best in you.
For those who have the right skills, traits and motivation and they then find the right employer and leaders to work for, a career in B2B sales can be very rewarding and these are my top five reasons as to why:
1. Winning feeling
As long as you can handle losing properly (because lose you will!), the buzz of winning never gets tiring especially when you’ve had to work hard for the deal.
2. Travel
Most roles in B2B sales have a requirement to attend trade shows, external training, seminars, client meetings and company social events. This provides you with a great opportunity to see new places, experience different cuisines and learn new languages. What makes all of this even better is that the cost is all on company expenses!
3. Meeting people
Similar to above, a role in sales will allow you to meet all sorts of interesting people from who, as long as your mind is open, you can learn lots from (good and bad!).
4. Earning potential
Right, let’s not beat around the bush. In the right sales role, you will have the potential to earn a very significant income which can help you realise lots of your personal goals. It is very much a case of, you get out what you’re prepared to put in.
5. No need for any fancy qualifications to do well
For me, this is the most important point. Unlike other careers that require official qualifications (gained after spending years in education amassing a hefty debt to the government) or influential contacts, ANYONE can be great in sales. It doesn’t matter where you were born, what social status your family has, how you did at school, how you speak, what you look like, what your sexual preferences are, what gender you identify as, what your hobbies are, what your personal goals are, who your heroes are…..ANYONE and EVERYONE who has the right attributes, the right attitude and is open to being coached can be a HUGE success in sales.
It’s late 2021 and, whilst lots of industries continue to struggle in the aftermath of the pandemic, B2B sales continue to thrive. The jobs are out there for those who want them bad enough and what’s even better is that lots of sales leaders will happily create a space in their teams for someone who has shown excellent initiative in asking for a job when the job didn’t exist!
Working in B2B sales is no longer a job that people fall into when all else fails – it’s a genuine career choice which I, and many others, continue to bang the drum for as we know how rewarding it can be. Whenever I’m fortunate enough to be giving talks to students, I always promote B2B sales because I know that the skills learned can be applied in other aspects of life to help people achieve their version of success.
