Help, I Hate My New Sales Job
How do you deal with corporate sales policies that don’t mesh with your personal values?
How do you work with a management team that values activity targets over actual results?
What do you do if you hate your new sales job?
In the ever changing world of sales many salespeople find themselves asking these questions. In this article I offer some tips on what to do if you have just started a new sales job and are unhappy.
Listen
Help, I Hate My New Sales Job
We received this question from a Sales Professional named Dan.
For the first time in many years I find myself struggling to get a foot hold with a new company. My company began threatening me the second week I got here and has suggested that I do things that I am not comfortable with. I was hired as a B2B sales person but the company treats my position more like a retail channel. While I work to build my funnel, management goes nuts if daily numbers are not hit even if monthly numbers are. We are required to meet back at the office at 5pm and must work into the evening to hit our number if we are short of our daily goal. Is this normal? I’m not happy but how do I know if it is me? I am new to this industry and have never seen anything like this.
Dan, when it comes to sales every company has a set of values for managing sales teams. These values range from the micro management you are currently experiencing to hands off, results based management. Often these values change with the Vice President of Sale. The good news or bad news, depending on how you look at it, is VPs of Sales, on average, are replaced every 18 to 24 months. This frequent changing of the guard means that most salespeople will experience regular changes in expectations, philosophies, and compensation plans. Another way of looking at this is in sales, change is constant.
Veteran Sales Professionals who have established themselves as top performers generally ignore these changes and allow their numbers to speak for themselves. The choice they make is to do what works and resist the calls for change. Because they have solid reputations and sales numbers that are critical to the success of the enterprise they are generally left alone and outlast the various managers who come and go.
For new, less established, or failing salespeople however, things are different. Because they have no reputation on which to stand they must acquiesce to the whims of management. Those who don’t will quickly find themselves out on the street replaced by new reps like you who, management believes, can be molded into the corporate sales philosophy.
In your case it sounds like you’ve ended up in a company that has a set of values for managing salespeople that are incongruent with how you want to be managed and sell. I have some advice for you, but first I want to address how to avoid this situation in the first place.
Before taking any sales job the most important question you must answer is, “Is this a fit for me?”
Before taking any sales job the most important question you must answer is, “Is this a fit for me?” Do your research up front and answer these questions: Is the product or service something I will like to sell? Am I willing to work under the sales manager’s management style and expectations? Are the company’s culture, values and philosophy a fit for me? One of the best ways to find this information out is to spend a couple of days in the field with a sales person before you accept a new sales job so that you can ask questions and observe.
If you are currently working for a company and suddenly the philosophy and expectations change comply as best as you can but stay laser focused on results. The more business you close, revenue you generate, or profits you create the less you will have to deal with the annoyance of changing management philosophy. Companies don’t have the tendency to fire salespeople who are delivering results and, if you find you just can’t take it, it is a lot easier to find a new sales job when you have results to show prospective employers.
What do you do though if you are in Dan’s situation where you’ve just started a new sales job and find you hate it? Depending on your finances and timing, you can just call it a mistake, quit and continue your search for a better sales job. If quitting is not possible then you will have to adjust your attitude and toe the company line. Fighting is a losing battle that will get you fired. You will have to put up with things you hate in the short-term so that you can win in the long-term. The key is delivering results. Smile and be a team player. Show your management team that you enthusiastically embrace their philosophy. At the same time, work hard, generate sales and establish your reputation as a top performer. Once you have credibility it will be easier to do your own thing without being micro-managed and if you are still unhappy you can leave on good terms with another solid addition to your resume.
Jeb Blount is a leading authority on sales and sales management. He is the CEO of SalesGravy.com (the most visited sales content website on the internet) and a consultant and speaker to sales organizations worldwide. He is the author of Power Principles and 7 Rules of Outselling the Recession and publishes Sales Gravy eMagazine which has more than 80,000 subscribers. Jeb also lectures regularly at the University of Central Florida, coaches the UCF National Collegiate Sales Competition team, and serves as judge for the MIT International MBA Sales Competition.
Please send sales questions to salesguy@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email.