What it's like to be a salesperson — an interview with a stranger.

In light of the research I’ve done on sales this week, I decided that for my interview I would practice my “cold call” skills, and interviewed a stranger. Coffee in hand and in need of a salesperson, I asked the woman sitting next to me at a local coffee shop if there was any chance she worked in sales. She did! “May I ask you a few questions?” I asked, not believing my luck. “Sure,” she said. Heres what I asked and learned from Erin Smith, who worked as a sales rep at a membership-based gym.
Question 1: What was your typical day like? What was it like at the office?
“Well, I was at a desk. I talked to people all day. We’d reach out to potential clients as well as former members to get some data on what they enjoyed and disliked about the gym, and then use that to make changes to the program. I had a daily quota of 3 new members and 2 renewals every day. I made about 250 calls a day!”
Question 2: What was the most difficult part of the job?
“Basically getting told no a lot is kind of disheartening. You're turned down a lot when you're working at a high-end gym that charges a lot more than 24 Hr Fitness or some other member program. I also think the fitness industry is particularly difficult because you have to convince people who would otherwise not want to workout to workout. It's tough to sell people on something they already don’t want.”
Question 3: What hard skills did you use in your position?
“Mostly just excel to keep track of things, and then some other software I can’t remember the name of that would remind us to follow up with people via call or email after a certain number of days.”
Question 4: Any tips for someone trying to enter the industry?
“Get used to getting told no. If you have the stamina and personality to not let it affect you, more power to ya. Tech is probably the way to go. Be persistent but not pushy, people hate that. That's like the number one complaint of people being sold to. But yeah, go for it!”
Big thanks to Erin for being so open to questions!
