Kirby

Sales Representative

Opinion: no amount of "grit" will help you in sales if you're dumb

It's not PC, so you'll never see it on LinkedIn, but the number one reason why people fail at sales isn't because of "a lack of grit."

The number one reason I've seen is that people are dumb. No matter how hard you work, if you can't have intelligent conversations with business professionals and quickly grasp what they're saying, you won't even be a good SDR, much less be able to hold a good demo.

🐱 Off-Topic

🙏 Mental Wellness

👥 Hiring

19 comments

Sort by:

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

"Why did you get into sales?"
"I was too dumb to do anything else."

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

I’ve seen many, many dumb people succeed in sales and in life generally.

harebrained

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Gotta say.. there are some low complexity things out there you can sell that take pure grit. During the '08 recession I sold office supplies and saw people of all intelligence levels do well. You might need a touch more mental capacity for something highly technical ...

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

back that, me too!

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Eh sorry Kirbs I respect your opinion but I'm gonna have to disagree. Many fail for other reasons like bad management, processes, lack of training, etc.

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Hard disagree. You’re narrowly defining what sales, success and “dumb” are.

I know reps with books in the millions and aren’t “book smart “ or “business savvy”, but are charming as all hell and have a magnetic personality. They “win” through relationships.

I also know people who are off the charts “book smart” and “business savvy” but couldn’t sell heroin to a junkie needing a fix. They get too caught up in the numbers and the strategy to actually *act*

You’re also assuming everyone here is selling the same thing, using the same timelines, have the same process and average sales cycle.

I’ll go one step further and ruin it for you even more :

Top athletes are dumb as a sack of rocks.

Yet how many end up in sales?

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Well put, and it's absolutely an oversimplification.

I understand what he's getting at, but there's so much more to the equation.

SADNES5

Politicker

down voters are marketing spies

I find the best salesfolks are the best social chameleons. They can always find a way to wedge in and be involved, build rapport, ask for a close.

You can't teach that. People fail because they think there is a process... or they "trust in the process". It's not McDonalds, don't be an order taker, be a sales person, fill need.

ZeroGrit

Valued Contributor

VP of Hoping My Emails Find You Well

I thought we all went into sales because we're dumb, narcissistic, greedy, and altruistic with a mild (at best) drinking/experimental drug problem?

I will say though... you're not entirely wrong. Most sales people that aren't successful is from lack of imagination. I don't think it's being dumb. If you don't have charisma AND lack imagination, you just get by in your sales role until you inevitably end up working Sales/Rev Ops. Win-win.

(btw if anyone wants to take me under their wing, I do want to learn how to transition into an Ops role... I meant everything I said... but I also know I'm running out of charisma so I have to start thinking about my future. Thanks 🙏 )

Do.it.for.the.checks

Politicker

Account Executive

There's various levels of complexity for sales. I'm personally best at strategic and business change type of sales

But I would suck and/or burn out at like selling cars or any B2C.

Different skill sets

Blackwargreymon

Politicker

MDR

I’ve seen many, many dumb people succeed in sales and in life generally.

Clashingsoulsspell

Politicker

ISR

Gotta say.. there are some low complexity things out there you can sell that take pure grit.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

Rolling 20's all day

I've seen people end up in sales who had no business being there. In a crude sense, yes, you could just call it as them being dumb. They could have lot's of training but it's often crucial that we think strategically and on the fly. Being able to adapt is not exactly teachable but there are improvements that can be made over time.
Though to be fair there absolutely are some people that are just straight up dumb and have no hope.
They can go be SDRs at Seamless

alecabral

Arsonist

Director - Digital Sales Transformation

Well, it's an opinion. Nothing wrong there. I am curious though about what you mean by "dumb"?

LordBusiness

Politicker

Chief Revenue Officer

I’ve seen many types be high earners and achievers, so I think the blank statement above is a bit…..I believe coach-ability js the they ingredient for a successful career

IYNFYL

Politicker

Enterprise SaaS AE

I know many salespeople that rode the wave of order processing as they had a lot in their pipeline previously built from the last rep. Now staying a good salesperson after those initial few years you need to be competent.

Cornholio

Opinionated

Account Executive

I agree 100%- people assume sales people do sales because we can’t do anything else. That may be true for some but the best sales people are some of the most intelligent people I know both academically but also people smart. As a sales person you need to be able to take a complicated concept and simplify it into a simple version so your prospects can envision it themselves. You need to be intelligent and understand what you are selling to do so.

MontyMoose

Good Citizen

Chief Commercial Officer

Preach.

hh456

Celebrated Contributor

sales

I've actually met someone of average intelligence. I can't imagine half of America less intelligent than this guy.

He was kind, quiet, stuck to himself, but he just was fucking dumb. I will never forget him, he's a college graduate too.

People give us shit, but I don't know of a single average intelligence person working in sales. They are generally laborers and hold blue collar jobs. AND THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. Most people do quite well getting paid for the sweat on their brow. It's also fulfilling and they don't have to put up with the bullshit we do for prez club and free xannys. Maybe they have got it figured out and we don't. idk.

Grit pays off in our circles. We live in a vacuum chamber unfortunately. We aren't comparing ourselves against the American public. We're comparing ourselves against everyone else who is trying to get a step up in life.

Bravado is a community of trusted sales professionals endorsed by their customers.

Products

The War Room Jobs Salary Guide Tech Sales U

Company

About Us How It Works Blog Bug Bounty

Contact

Press Careers

If you are hired as a contract sales rep by a Bravado customer, we may ask you to prove access to the employee email account provided to you by that customer. This data will be shared with customers to track your sales productivity; customers can use this data to confirm you meet the minimum activity requirements to pay out your ramp stipend and commission.

Kirby

Opinion: no amount of "grit" will help you in sales if you're dumb

19 comments

Related posts

If Sales is a meritocracy and we all have the same expectation to produce, why is the so much talk about pay equity/inequality in sales? Shouldn't the meritocracy part be an equalizer?

What sales skill do you most need to improve?

Continuing Education - Any certificates that will help with Enterprise Sales and growth?