6 Things I Wish I Knew Before Getting Into Sales
When I first embarked on my sales career over a decade ago, I thought I knew what I was getting into. I was a natural talker and figured that was the main skill needed to succeed in selling. But I quickly learned that sales is a complex, ever-evolving field that requires much more than the gift of gab.
Over the years, I‘ve gained many valuable insights that I wish I had known from day one. While I can‘t turn back time, I can share this hard-earned wisdom with you. Here are the top six things I wish I knew before getting into sales:
1. Discounting Is Not a Sustainable Strategy
When I started out in sales, I focused heavily on giving customers the best deal possible. I saw discounting as an effective way to close deals quickly. However, I learned the hard way that this is a short-sighted approach that does more harm than good.
Here‘s the problem with discounting: it puts you in the same playing field as your competitors. If you lower your prices, you‘re signaling to customers that your product or service isn‘t actually worth the full amount. This devalues your offering and makes it harder to charge premium prices in the future.
What‘s more, a discount-heavy strategy eats into your profit margins. You may hit your sales targets, but your commissions will suffer. And if too many reps rely on discounting, it can damage the long-term financial health of the entire company.
My advice? Avoid discounting unless absolutely necessary. Focus instead on selling on value. Do the extra work to show customers how your product can provide a strong return on investment. Have confidence that it‘s worth every penny of the asking price.
2. Sales Is Not Just a Numbers Game
"Sales is a numbers game." You‘ve likely heard this cliché tossed around, and I certainly bought into it early in my career. I thought that the road to success was paved with pure hustle. Make enough calls, knock on enough doors, work longer and harder than anyone else – that was my philosophy.
But I eventually realized that while activity is important, the quality of that activity matters far more than the quantity. Let‘s say your goal is to make 100 sales calls per week. You could blast through those by calling anyone with a pulse. But how many of those people are truly qualified buyers? Probably not many. You‘re wasting time on dead-end leads.
A more effective approach is to focus on the RIGHT activity. Do your research to identify prospects who are a great fit for your offering. Craft personalized outreach. Spend more time preparing for meetings with decision-makers. Quality activity will produce better outcomes than sheer call volume.
That‘s not to say activity levels don‘t matter at all. Consistent prospecting is vital and you can‘t close deals without picking up the phone. Just don‘t fall into the trap of thinking that hitting arbitrary activity metrics is all it takes. Work smarter, not just harder.
3. Helping Trumps Hard Selling
The rise of the internet has changed the game for sales professionals. Back when I started, customers relied heavily on vendors for product information and expertise. But now, 67% of the buyer‘s journey is done digitally before a prospect even speaks to a salesperson.
Modern buyers are coming to the table armed with more knowledge than ever before. They don‘t need or want a rep to hard sell them. Instead, they‘re looking for an advisor who understands their business and provides valuable insights.
I used to lead with my sales hat on, peppering the customer with rehearsed pitches and spiels. Now, I focus first and foremost on helping. I do extensive research into the prospect‘s company and industry. I share relevant case studies, best practices, and ideas. My goal is to collaborate with the buyer to solve their challenges.
Does this softer approach mean you avoid pushing the customer outside their comfort zone? Not at all. Challenging the status quo is often necessary to create urgency and unlock new opportunities. The difference is that it comes from a place of empathy and insightfulness, not brute force.
Ultimately, helping the customer should be your north star. Bring value to every interaction and the sales will follow. As Zig Ziglar said, "You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want."
4. Marketing and Sales Must Work Hand-in-Hand
If you had asked me about marketing early in my sales career, I would have described it as the department that makes brochures and plans client dinners. I saw marketers as sales support at best. Boy, was I wrong.
I‘ve since learned that the most effective organizations tightly align their marketing and sales functions. The two teams must work together to understand buyer needs, develop compelling messaging, and create a seamless customer experience from first touch to closed-won and beyond.
As a sales professional today, I don‘t just wait for marketing to hand me leads. I actively partner with them to shape go-to-market strategies. I provide input on buyer personas, share field insights that can fuel campaigns, and help distribute marketing content to my network. The goal is to present a united front to customers.
Sales reps who turn up their nose at marketing are only hurting themselves. If you want to maximize your success, collaborate closely with your marketing colleagues. Combine your deep customer knowledge with their digital, content and demand generation expertise. Celebrate each other‘s wins and learn from each other. You‘re two sides of the same revenue-generating coin.
5. Your Slides Are Not a Crutch
I cringe looking back on some of my early sales presentations. I would walk in with a 50-slide deck, nervously clutching my notes, and proceed to systematically march the customer through each and every bullet point. I used the slides as a crutch because my product knowledge was shaky and I wasn‘t sure how to lead an effective sales conversation.
Here‘s the problem: when you rely too heavily on slides, it turns the meeting into a one-way presentation instead of a two-way dialogue. The focus becomes your deck instead of the customer. It also makes you less present as you worry about what‘s coming up on the next slide instead of actively listening and responding to the buyer.
Don‘t get me wrong – slides can be a helpful visual aid when used sparingly. But they shouldn‘t be a script. Use a few simple, impactful slides to reinforce your message and provide a jumping-off point for discussion. Then put the laptop away and turn your full attention to the customer.
I now aim for a roughly 80:20 ratio of conversation to presentation. The best meetings are ones where the buyer does most of the talking while I ask probing questions, take notes, and offer relevant commentary. I only pull up slides at key moments to illustrate important themes. The rest of the time, it‘s a lively, customer-centric dialogue. That‘s when the real magic happens.
6. ‘No Decision‘ Is Your Biggest Competition
Finally, I wish I had recognized earlier that my biggest competitor often wasn‘t another vendor – it was the status quo. Especially in larger enterprise deals, the real battle is convincing buyers to take action and change what they‘re currently doing.
Research from Gartner shows that in a typical buying group of six to 10 decision makers, "good enough is good enough" will be the most common stance. Each stakeholder has their own priorities and reaching consensus is difficult. Faced with uncertainty or lack of alignment, customers will often decide to simply stick with the status quo and invest their limited time, budget and political capital elsewhere.
As a salesperson, your job is to build a compelling case for why a new approach is needed. This requires understanding each stakeholder‘s unique perspective and tailoring your messaging accordingly. You must create urgency by showing how the current state is unsustainable or is preventing the customer from achieving their goals.
Change is hard. It‘s human nature to cling to what‘s familiar. But staying stagnant is often riskier than taking a bold leap forward. Effective sales professionals know they must constructively introduce a bit of friction. They push customers out of their comfort zone. That‘s how you drive action and avoid death by ‘no decision.‘
To sum it all up – sales is a field that requires continuous learning and adaptation. Embrace the fundamentals of ethical, customer-centric selling while evolving your approach to stay relevant in a fast-changing world. Bring value to your buyers. Act as a knowledgeable guide, not just a vendor. Collaborate across the organization. Challenge the status quo.
Most of all, be prepared for the many surprises and lessons that a career in sales will throw your way. It‘s a journey full of twists, turns, ups and downs – but it‘s also incredibly rewarding. Keep learning, stay humble, and sell with integrity. Success will follow.
