Often we hear that pressure and stress run rampant in target-oriented sales jobs. I’m not going to deny it. Yes, there is a constant pressure to chase numbers and meet targets. You need to keep running to the next thing and there would be no time to celebrate previous victories. But, job satisfaction is unbeatable.
After getting a degree (MBA) in marketing, I wanted to take on a core marketing role like branding, advertising, or paid marketing. But fortunately, I landed a sales job which most people in India believed to be marketing. It involved a lot of travel across the city to identify potential buyers.
It was really hard, I felt the pressure rise up every day. Frequent travels were tiring. Initially, I found it really difficult to spot potential buyers and close deals. At times, I even considered quitting my job or switching careers. But, something kept me grounded.
During those hard times, my inherent character helped me cope. Slowly, I started learning the nuances involved in sales. As I got to practice the art of sales more, I fell in love with it. My colleagues started appreciating not only the deals and closures but also my patience; they started acknowledging my character and traits. This is how the first ‘P’, patience, kick-started my sales journey.
Patience
In a sales role, when things don’t go as you expected, you got to stay patient. In addition to staying positive and empathetic to your prospect’s needs, it is crucial to practice patience. Throughout my sales journey, several experiences reinforced this belief.
One such instance is where I remained patient and followed-up with a prospect for more than a year. There were times I wanted to give up the prospect as a lost cause, but eventually, all my hard work paid off! I couldn’t have done it without the second ‘P’, persistence.
Persistence
Now, I remained more patient in my calls and stayed persistent as well. I never gave up on my prospects too soon. My approach was quite similar to a child’s resolve. Children keep asking for candy until they wear us down, and are completely unimpressed and unmoved by our objections. It isn’t simply that a child doesn’t give up; they know the right time to poke us and make the request.
Planning
Though I practised both two p’s, I can’t shake the feeling that something is missing. Later, I found that being unorganized and unplanned was having a bad impact on my work. Because, although my patience and persistence helped me win prospects and close deals, I had trouble figuring out where to start again.
This is how I learned that planning my calls with the right prospects (based on your intuition and gut feel) is a critical part of the sales process.
Summary
These three characteristics changed the way I looked at sales; they helped me in real life as well. These three characteristics did not only give me enough courage to win deals or make closures but instead, mostly they gave me the strength to overcome failures and move on to the next opportunity.
Because, in sales, it is always about ‘what’s next?’