A Sales Job

Mr. Abhijit Chandratreya

Indira Institute of Management

_____________________________________________________________________

Details of author

Mr. Abhijit P Chandratreya:

Mr. Abhijit P Chandratreya has over 17 years experience in professional field in the area
of marketing and sales of Industrial goods. Currently, he is a Research Coordinator at
Post Graduate Research Centre of Indira Institute of Management, Pune. He is also
pursuing his Ph D in Management at University of Pune.

He can be reached at abhijit.indira@gmail.com.

1 Abhijit P Chandratreya
 The Pros and Cons of being a Sales Person

There comes a time in every salesperson’s life when he curses the day he or she
took up the career in Sales. They wish that they could go back in time and restart their
education and take up some other field of work.

In my 17 years career of frontline sales, I have also faced these times and
wondered what for am I burning up my life so fast? I have always then thought on the
pros and cons of a sales person’s life and proceeded ahead with my work.

This article is for those sales persons who have just started their career in sales
and also for those who wish to enter this field, where, though monetary wise you become
well off, all other aspects of your life are strained to the limits. The matter discussed
below has been generated during unofficial discussions with colleagues, peers etc over
many cups of tea, while traveling from one place to another, from reading various articles
etc. The points/thoughts highlighted below are not of mine alone but I have endeavored
to put them on paper. You might come across similar articles written by greater persons
than me, but after working in hardcore industrial selling for 17 long years gives me the
latitude to write about it.

Allow me to start with the cons of being a sales person:

1. FIGURES: In our youth, we had some thoughts in our mind, which no matter
what we did, would not get out of our heads. Similarly, in Sales, the figures or say
numbers will be in your head constantly. You will sleep, eat, work and all the
time the figures will be revolving in your head. Daily targets, weekly targets,
monthly targets, quarterly targets, yearly targets. All these facts and figures will
be in your head all the time. Meetings in the corporate world are held at the drop
of the hat and you have to conjure up these figures immediately. You are not
allowed to say – a moment please, while I retrieve these numbers from
somewhere or someone. This is not the answer of a successful salesperson. When
you are sitting in front of the television at home, you will receive a call from a far

2 Abhijit P Chandratreya
 flung branch asking for some figure or status of some order etc. You will have to
respond off the cuff to such type of queries. The pressure to perform is relentless.
You are constantly reminded of the fact, by the management, that, you are solely
responsible for everyone’s jobs in the organization. As not securing the order,
means not generating income which leads to layoffs. Wow, is not that a heady
feeling? However, at the end of the day, it is you who has been laid off for non-
performance whereas the others in other departments are getting paid regularly.
So, main thing to remember is that figures play a very important role in the life of
a sales person.

2. Your Boss: In any type of organization, be it in industrial or services sector, your

immediate boss will always be of a nature different from you. He/she will always
oppose you and question your statements constantly. The boss’s outlook, work
culture, ethics, technical ability etc will always be diametrically opposite to your
abilities. What ever you say or do will never be accepted by your seniors at the
first go. He will make you wait whole day for a decision and at the end you will
get a tongue lashing for not doing things on time!

3. The Customer: The toughest nut to crack. One ground reality you cannot escape
from in sales is that, you are totally subservient to the people who will, after much
dithering and time wasting, give consent to your proposal and allow you to add
one more entry in your figures sheet. No matter how much empathy you show,
how much hard you try to match your product/service and the customer’s
requirement, they will always come up with something nonsensical and totally
irrelevant to the proposal being discussed that it will make you want to tear your
hair out. You will always have to – Grin and bear it. I have faced number of such
meetings where mentally I have wanted to say to the clients – take it or leave it, or
wanted to get up and walk out, or do dance a few steps on their conference table.

3 Abhijit P Chandratreya
Now the pros on being a Salesperson:

1. Figures: Achieving those figures constantly will make you the king of all
your survey. You will get a pat on the back from the CEO; rules will not be
applicable to you. You can work at your own pace and you will climb on the
escalator to higher pay packages and perks. You will be the envy of all the
others in the organization who will again repeat the age old statement – A
Sales job is the best job in the industry. Being a figure achiever is the closest
you will be in becoming a page 3 person. But, the hard work put in by you has
given you this status. You should never forget it. Do not become complacent.
There is always another sales person who is trying to usurp your place in the
pecking order. Be alert and ever watchful. At most of all – have all the figures
and numbers ready.

2. Your Boss: When you are a constant achiever of the numbers, you do not
have a boss. You are allowed to work shoulder to shoulder with the GMs, VPs
of your organization. You may even be invited to have a power lunch with
them in the Director’s Canteen. Your CEO will allow you to address him by
his first name and not bend over in respect every time he comes your way.
You are never questioned in any of the meetings. No senior management
person will look askance at you during these meetings. ENJOY these fleeting
moments in time.

3. The Customer: You have to be a peoples’ person. You need to love meeting
new people day in and day out. To be successful in sales will depend upon
how many people you can meet and move forward in achieving your goal. If
you think that sitting in the office and following up with the same old
customers is going to help in achieving your targets, forget it. You need to be
constantly on the move, generating new leads, meeting new potential clients
every day, expanding your reach. You are the face of your organization. Make
your own schedule and then stick to it. Meeting more potential clients will

4 Abhijit P Chandratreya
 lead to faster closure of deals and in turn in will lead to filling up of your
figures sheet faster. Remember, customers, for a sales person, are the ladder to
success, fame and money. It is up to you to decide whether to climb up by
using stairs (i.e. doing repetitive work without success) or using the escalator,
elevators to success by fulfilling the customer’s need and achieving your
targets.

Well, I hope I been to put forth my thoughts to you properly. It is up-to you to
decide whether to imbibe these thoughts and go ahead and become a successful sales
person. Like they say – some people work hard whereas some people hardly work.

For those in Sales, stop reading and get out and start working. For those aspiring
for a sales job, follow these rules and you will be successful. And, for those who
think that the above is not possible, take up a job elsewhere.

---***---

5 Abhijit P Chandratreya