What to do if you absolutely hate your sales job

Published: Wed, 02/23/22

February 23, 2022

Welcome back. February can be a difficult month. It’s cold, everyone’s cranky, and spring still feels like a distant dream. But salespeople need to look on the bright side, so let’s focus on the positives: it’s National Snack Food Month, which means you have our permission to raid the junk food cabinet and drown your sorrows in chips and candy (we’ll be doing the same). Speaking of snacks, this week’s edition of The Quota is easily consumable; advice for a rep who feels like they don’t belong, superstitions in sales, and the story of Dale Carnegie. Let’s dive in.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

The percentage of salespeople that give up if they don’t receive a reply to their first email.

Source: Yesware

SALES ROUNDUP

Here’s what’s happening in the sales world this week

A recent article in Grow magazine profiled Olympic bobsled silver medalist Lauren Gibbs, tracing her journey from a six-figure career in sales, to a successful career as an athlete, then back to the business world, combining her sales experience with her sports background as VP of Partnerships for a health training platform. Before learning how to bobsled, Gibbs sold Cutco knives, server warranties, and sales apparel, then went back to school to get her MBA, before realizing something was still missing. She compared bobsledding to sales, saying, “There’s a little bit of adrenaline with every sale.” You can read the entire article here.
In a touching story out of Baltimore, a season ticket salesman for the Baltimore Orioles caught a grieving woman by surprise after he sent her a long, handwritten condolence note (along with some free Orioles gear), offering his sympathies for the loss of her brother, a life-long Orioles fan and season ticket holder who had just passed away after a battle with cancer. Making it all the more impactful, the salesman had never met the late fan, or his sister, and took the time to look up the obituary and send the thoughtful letter out of the goodness of his heart. You can watch the news segment highlighting the story here.

FEATURE

The story of Dale Carnegie, famous self-help author and the original sales influencer

It’s no secret that we like to poke fun at the fast-talking sales influencers and self-styled sales gurus that clog up our news feeds with their half-baked advice. But long before social media (or the internet, for that matter), Dale Carnegie pioneered the art of the self-help and salesmanship seminar, culminating in the publishing of his most famous book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, which, still to this day, makes nearly every list of recommended sales books in the world.

Dale Carnegie was born Dale Carnagey, just one example of his belief in the power of self-reinvention. His parents were impoverished farmers who lived in Missouri; Dale said he had to get up at 3 a.m. to feed the pigs and milk his parents' cows before going to school. He became interested in public speaking at a young age, joining the school’s debate team and attending Chautauqua assemblies, events which brought entertainment to rural communities and featured popular speakers, musicians, and preachers.

After high school, Dale attended State Teacher’s College in Warrensburg. After graduating, he got his first sales job, selling correspondence courses to ranchers. He moved on to selling bacon, soap, and lard for Armour & Company, and was so successful that his sales territory of South Omaha, Nebraska, became the national leader for the firm.

Once he’d managed to save up $500, Carnegie quit sales in 1911 and moved to New York to try to make it as an actor. He quickly decided the theater life wasn’t for him, and once the traveling show he was working on wrapped, he found himself down and out, living in a YMCA in New York City, short on money and opportunities, but still possessing his self-belief, dreaming of how he was going to make his mark on the world.

It was then that he had an idea. He recalled how his fellow students had offered to pay him to teach them public speaking, so he persuaded the YMCA manager to allow him to instruct a public speaking class in return for 80% of the net proceeds. In the middle of his first session, he ran out of material. Improvising, he suggested that students speak about "something that made them angry", and discovered that the technique made speakers unafraid to address a public audience.

The classes were an instant hit. Within two years, he had left the YMCA and opened up his own academy, making about $500 (equivalent to about $12,900 today) every week. In 1913, he published his first book, Public Speaking and Influencing Men of Business, using it as a textbook for his courses. After the book came out, Carnegie changed his name from its original spelling, "Carnagey," to "Carnegie," undoubtedly a marketing ploy to associate himself with steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, one of the richest men in the world.

In 1936, Carnegie published How to Win Friends and Influence People. Despite its modest initial print run of 5,000 copies, the book became a mammoth best-seller, selling nearly 5 million copies during his lifetime while being translated into every major language.

Carnegie’s influence can still be felt to this day, not only from the impact of his most famous book, but his influence on the world of self-help and non-fiction book publishing. By the time of his death in 1955, an estimated 450,000 people had taken his classes across the globe. It makes us wonder: if Carnegie had an Instagram account and a Facebook ads budget, just how popular would he be today?

MEME OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram -- Sales Humor

QUIZ

Which of the following is the world’s oldest (still operating) company?

A. The Royal Mint (United Kingdom)
B. Kongo Gumi (Construction – Japan)
C. Staffelter Hof (Wine – Germany)
D. Koman (Hotel – Japan)

SALES FAILS

Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

“I sell software now, but in 2014 I was working for a regional bank as an assistant branch manager. One day, one of our personal bankers forwarded me a call from a customer, and told me that “something is up with this guy,” before sending him over.

Once I answered the call, all I heard was heavy breathing for a while, before the guy finally responded to my hellos and said he needed help. He sounded like he was out of breath, and started telling me a story about how he was scammed, and that “they” had “taken everything” from him. Every few minutes, he would break down crying, before regaining his composure, and saying “They’re gonna pay. I’m gonna make them pay.”

I asked if he wanted me to call the police, and he paused for a moment, then said yes. Then, almost immediately, he said not to call them, and that it was a personal matter and had nothing to do with the bank. I asked him how we could help, and once again, he broke down and said “they” had “taken everything,” along with some other expletives.

He finally wanted to know if he could borrow money or possibly take money out of his house, but after a minute of talking about that, he reverted back to this “thing” that had happened at his house the night before. Then he said, “I think they’re here,” before disappearing for a moment, then coming back and quickly saying he had to go and hanging up. We debated calling the police, but we couldn’t reconcile his phone number with anyone in our system, so we decided to hold off.

Here’s the weirdest part: I called him back the next day, and got him on the phone. It was definitely the same guy because he had the same exact voice, except he was in a cheerful mood. When I asked if he was okay, and if he still needed our help, he said, “Oh no. Everything is absolutely fine. I hope you have a lovely day,” and hung up. It’s still the most bizarre thing that’s ever happened to me in sales.”

Anonymous, 41 Connecticut

GRAPH OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram Poll -- February 2022

ASK THE QUOTA

Want to submit a question and be featured in our advice column? Click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Dear Quota Team,

I've been in Sales for almost 10 years, starting as a BDR at a small company and working my way up to an AE for a well known international software company. But the reality is that I suck at sales. I have been lucky enough to hide it for quite a while, especially given that I used to be very confident when talking to customers or to colleagues.

Back then, no one could have guessed that deep down, I felt like I really didn't belong in sales. I’ve had some success, of course, but I'm pretty sure that 95% of the deals I closed were due to external factors.

Lately, this has really affected me, and my confidence has vanished. The competition between reps, the dashboard (I'm definitely at the bottom), the (empty) pipeline reviews, chasing prospects (I'm the type to think "If you're not interested, I don't really care, it’s your problem), deals over which I have no control, people buying and then canceling their orders etc. All of it makes me sick, and I feel like I just don't want to do it anymore.

But I have absolutely no idea what else I'd do. This is the biggest issue that I have. Bad results make me feel like I'm not good at anything. Not to mention the pay cut I’d have to take if I quit sales. It's hard to admit it, but I feel like whatever I do, the consequences will be negative.

What’s your advice? I'm not even sure you can help, but maybe me asking this question might help all the underperforming reps out there and help them realize that someone in this world knows what they’re going through. Thank you either way.

Conflicted in Europe

Dear Conflicted

Even though you’re all the way in Europe, and we’re in America, here’s some advice that we want to scream across the Atlantic Ocean:

Quit.

Do it. Quit. Resign from your sales job. If possible, line something else up first. But even if you can’t, don’t spend another year doing something you so obviously hate. Life’s too short, and unless you have absolutely no other way to pay your bills (this is rare), then you shouldn’t spend your days hating what you do professionally.

There are way too many sales reps who can’t stand the job, who grudgingly show up every single day, hoping something changes. There are, of course, different degrees of not liking your job, but you are most definitely too far off the charts to try to make it work.

And as far as what else you can do: most software sales reps who transition out of sales find it easy to land roles in customer success. It’s a job that pays a decent salary and is in increasingly high demand. You could also try to get into marketing, though there will be more of a learning curve than in CS (not to mention the taunts from the sales team).

As far as the pay cut, you should go ahead and adjust your lifestyle accordingly, because there’s a very high chance you’ll be a lot happier making less but not having to do a job you despise.

So do it: quit. Don’t fear the unknown; you’ll figure it out. Start applying this week. Start applying this afternoon, after you see our response to your question. It’s perfectly fine to leave sales. It’s a much better alternative than being miserable for a third of your waking hours. Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Quiz answer: B – Kongo Gumi (founded 578)

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Today's email was written by Ken Kupchik, Erica Furgiuele, Steve Rado, and Emily Hill.

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