Why Are You In Sales? The Surprising Truth

When people in other careers ask salespeople why they are in sales, the most frequent answer is “money.” This is the pat answer salespeople give to outsiders who have never experienced the rush of closing a deal or the satisfaction of building a trusted friendship with a customer.

 

Providing the answer “money” is similar to the way mountain climbers answer “because it’s there” when asked why they climb mountains. The questioners can’t comprehend why someone would intentionally endure such physical and mental exhaustion and take such huge risks. They themselves don’t possess the inward drive to reach the pinnacle or the self-confidence to attempt the impossible.

 

The real answer to the question of why salespeople are in sales is deeper and far more complex. It was best explained by French aristocrat and historian Alexis de Tocqueville when he wrote about the American colonies’ desire to be free from England. “The revolution of the United States was the result of a mature reflecting preference for freedom, not a vague or ill-defined craving for independence,” he concluded. The colonials weren’t as interested in the independence of the colonies as they were in the freedom of the individual. The writers of the Declaration of Independence considered freedom a natural law of nature. Every July 4^th here in the United States we pause to celebrate the most magnificent experiment of freedom in the history of mankind.

 

TIP: The reality is that you are not in sales solely for money. You work in sales not because you have to, but because you have to be free. And this fundamental drive is at the core of the human spirit.

 

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Comments

[Avril Shelton/Sales Journal]

You've certainly made a good point. I work indirectly in the sales industry, and I have observed that there is a definite drive in those who are in the sales force. Yes money is a factor, but it is also evident that there is a love for the hunt, the close, etc., all of the parts that make up the sale. So many in the industry love it to the point that they can't see themselves doing anything else.