notsoadultaboutthings

Account Manager

Sales turns you into a cold, 'I don't care' type of person...

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like since they've started working in sales they've turned into a cold, I don't care type of person?

By that I mean, you don't care about being a people pleaser....

"Oh, you want a heavy discount on our product that we have to pay to maintain and create?" "Well, Bob, I do have to get paid so your discount can go shove it!".

"Oh, you think our prices are too high?"

"Well, Mary, our products don't magically appear from the magical product tree that we can harvest for free and just give away as we see fit. We do have a business to run at the end of the day!"

🐱 Off-Topic

🙏 Mental Wellness

💆‍♂ Mindset

51 comment

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CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Are you new into sales boo boo?

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

Not new new, I've just been reflecting a lot on how its changed me as a person

Woody

Politicker

Business Development Executive

Yes I'm feeling like you're maybe a year or two away from successfully incorporating the negative realities of the world and selling into a positive outlook.

The customer wants the product as cheap as possible, you want to make a profit. Neither of these things are of your making and you work with them without remorse. The thing you're caring about is helping the customer at a price that is profitable.

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

No, customer service turns you into a cold "I don't care" type of person. Sales just solidifies it.

CharmingSalesGal

Politicker

Account Executive

@funcoupons Read my gd mind.

Let's be real, we've all been "go fuck yourself" type of people from a pretty young age. 🤷🏻‍♀️

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

I was born with very few fucks to give in the first place, working in fast food as a teenager stole those away quickfast.

TheNegotiator

Arsonist

VP of Sales

“A crabby senior citizen”

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

I can imagine! CS does not seem easy.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

Sounds like you are selling a product that is either A) overpriced or B) fails to convey ROI during the sales process.

I don't think sales is the issue, it's the environment you're in.

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

quite possibly!!!

JustGonnaSendIt

Politicker

Burn Towns, Get Money

Interesting take. I have found that working in sales has made me much more of an open person than a cold one. Always willing to see what the best deal for everyone is and frequently asking "tell me more about that" with genuine interest.

Before sales, I was a stuck up kid in Engineering school who thought i knew everything and most people were idiots.

While most people are still idiots, I now realize there are many more lenses you can look at a specific issue thru.

Take a day off. Eat a steak. Drink a beer. Reset for a minute and bring some fun back!

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

I do try to have that open person take over because I'm all about that, its just sometimes you don't have many options to work with and you're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.

A day off, a steak, and a beer is exactly what I need!

Filth

Politicker

Live Filthy or Die Clean

Nice take @JustGonnaSendIt - my steak is a good greasy diner breakfast, pancakes is a must, after morning calls and definitely a beer at lunch.

@NotSoAdult Keep it easy when you can and treat yourself often so the serious hair pull out moments don't drag you down too much. Also find a coworker or friend to vent hard with and it'll help you from going down the cold metal robot path.

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

Hahaha, your psuedo response seems like you're pissed and most of this frustration is due to the price.

If I find someone not to be the right fit (even in terms of budget), doesn't make sense to move forward with the convo. If price is a concern, I make an attempt to tell them why they will pay this and what they will get in return. If they disagree then I let them go but I will follow up again after a couple weeks or months to see if they are ready.

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

Yeah, that's the most logical approach. And you're right, I am a little frustrated at the moment.

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

Life is long, don't sweat and move on!

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

You're there to see if what you're selling solves a problem they have in a way that is mutually beneficial - e.g., your company also has to make money on the deal in order to stay in business. Qualification is what makes this happen.

I can care about my prospects and customers in a way that doesn't make me want to give things away.

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

100% There's times where you've done your best and they still want that super low price even though they can see the value. Everyone is always out to get the best price. Its just human nature and how a lot of us are taught to behave.

I think another way that sales changes you too is that you start to see the value in things more and don't automatically jump to price as a decision maker. A large % of the population doesn't see things that way though.

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

Being a people pleaser is bad for you anyway (tons of research backs this up). And these are businesses, not fucking charities.

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

Very true! I'm not too bummed by how I've changed tbh.

Salesify

Executive

Less to do with being cold and more to do with being honest and better at cutting to the chase. I find people just end up trusting you more without all the fluff.

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

Definitely! It's what I've started doing and its worked a lot better. I hate this whole beating around the bush thing.

hh456

Celebrated Contributor

sales

i have value, if you don't think i deserve to eat or pay bills or fix the light in my bathroom so i dont have to shit in the dark, then get fucked.

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

Exactly!!!

Jewcan_Sam81

Politicker

Account Executive

By about year 5, if you're still in this career, you'll start to figure out the shit you actually care about. 9/10 times the first thing you toss in the trash is optimism and the second is taking personally the grievances of the jabroni on the other end of the phone

Jewcan_Sam81

Politicker

Account Executive

That's just me, would actually be so down to hear what people remember is the first and second GAF you set on fire in your career in sales

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

Interesting! I definitely do not want to lose my optimism (lol), its one of the things keeping me going and I generally like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

100% on taking things personally - this is actually something I didn't do starting in sales because of the industries I was in prior, so its helped ALOT! But what I am dumping is being nice and trying to accommodate everyone, and maybe not giving so many people the benefit of the doubt.

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

Also, would be interesting discussion to hear what people remember is the first thing they got rid of from their personality in sales...

LordOfWar

Tycoon

Blow it up

Nah, you're just in the wrong place. Things are different in the right company/market/industry.

I love what I do, even when I deal with the requests for discounts and projects being delayed or near canceled, lost commission or facing problems outside of our scope. Every day has new issues to tackle and the role invites solution-drivers, especially unorthodox ones.

Sure, it gets tiring always being on call and not having much of a routine job, but I would not want to slave away as a wagie my whole life.

Plus if you're good you're assured to be the last person to be chopped. We're also one of the last that will get replaced by robots, so there's that.

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

I don't know about the robots part... I've seen a few companies now experimenting with a fully digital sales cycle... 🤔

LordOfWar

Tycoon

Blow it up

Digital sales are not automated sales. Digital sales are just another name for remote selling that may rely on some automation in the front-end (lead generation, filtering, etc).

I have yet to meet one of those automated bots that can address real issues, generate value, and push solutions. This is of course market-specific, so more complex markets will be the last to fall vs. simple ones like consumer goods.

My DoD customers will not be ordering from robots anytime soon, yet I can get a burger at McDonald's without talking to a single human.

Whupswhups

Politicker

Business Development Representative

I'm only cold towards the Marketing team

dwightyouignorantsale

Politicker

Account Executive

I’ve never been much of a people pleaser, but sales has definitely made me more of a pessimist. So that’s fun.

cw95

Politicker

Sales Development Lead

Depends what you sell and who you sell to. I found my personality became more extroverted and chilled out simply due to gaining experience chatting to strangers and realising 'fuck me, life isn't so serious when you get tossers on the other end of the phone.

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

Delighted for you cw95. Sales does also bring out the best in our personalities and probably makes us some of the best people in the world ;) - I acknowledge that.

GDO

Politicker

BDM

You just understand that there is always the next opportunity thus people annoying you can just fuck off.

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

very true, very true! I've learned to breathe and move on... sometimes we do need to acknowledge the harder times though, otherwise we get stuck on a toxic positivity merry-go-round

rxtdyn

Good Citizen

Sales Executive

Friendly Reminder: Sales Are Dope, Never Ever Stop Selling 👍

MonthEndSpecial

Valued Contributor

Enterprise Account Executive

I think the longer you are in the sales the more you realize that BS doesn't provide any value to anyone. Your sales are lost or delayed, and the customer wastes their own time. The further you move in sales, the more your customers will align with you on "just the facts please".

TheNegotiator

Arsonist

VP of Sales

I was born a fairly idealistic, optimistic person.

The world taught me very quickly, that nobody gives a fuck about anyone else, and nobody gives a fuck about me. If you want something, go take it.

So, I was cold and unforgiving long before I got into sales. I just found a healthy and constructive outlet for my cynical and sociopathic tendencies. I also really like money.

SaaSguy

Tycoon

Account Executive

Sounds like you need to create more value for your product and/or lower the price.

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

Quite possibly!

MCP

Valued Contributor

Sales Director

Interestingly enough, sales is about helping people improve their current situation. Unfortunately, that means you have to qualify prospects to make sure you can in a way that works for them & they’re excited about.
Once you feel like your soul is hardening, that’s when you know it’s time to go into management.

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

I wouldn't say my soul is hardening, I've just noticed more of a difference in certain situations where I would have put the needs of others first and have been burned. When you hear the same tactics over and over again from the other side you start to realize who is just out for a good deal and trying to take advantage, and who actually sees the true value in it and they genuinely can't afford it - then you work with them.

CameFortheChips

Good Citizen

Senior Sales Director

You’re either in the wrong company or just straight up shouldnt be in sales. You expect people to just sign an order form without pushing you for money off 😂

notsoadultaboutthings

Catalyst

Account Manager

I don't expect them to! I understand its in our nature to negotiate, I do it too. There's certain contexts where it gets to a point where the other person is just being unrealistic and is failing to see that a price is a price for a reason. There's a lack of respect that this is a business too which needs money to run. Typically, I've experienced this with other parties who can afford our product. They see the value and have received it, but their goal is to get it for nothing pretty much. They're just being cheap.

I get this is a part of being in sales and it doesn't deter me from being in it. But I've definitely built a tolerance to not saying yes to demands/requests straight up and also recognizing when they're just playing you. Whereas before being in sales, I probably would have been more inclined to give them what they wanted without understand that they're paying for a value, whatever that is. I've just learned to push back a bit more.

theweeknd

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

It turned me into a more ADHD and cold person...Who knows if I already had ADHD but when I'm hammering the phones and Zoom meetings, my brain is racing like it's on something. Every movement on my computer (new email, slack) I instantly open it lol. I get spazzy. Doing 10 things within 1.5 minutes. And I've learned to very quickly de qualify leads and not pursue them if I get the gut feeling they're wasting my time.

Mobi85

Politicker

Regional Sales Manager

I wouldn't say that I have become an "I don't care type of person" but sales has for sure removed any type of filter that I have left in my brain. I do care about people but I don't feel the need to BS a response and hope that people like me because of that. Being super nice all the time is exhausting and trying to filter what I say to be nice is even more exhausting.

Donutpanda

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

You probably need something fun outside of work

LordBusiness

Politicker

Chief Revenue Officer

I think that’s business in general though. You could say the same thing about having to fill out another bullshit form for HR or answer another question about “personas” for marketing. Bottom line, shitty humans tend to suck the life out of us

techsales

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

In my experience, the path is:

1. Start sales, by optimistic about making money and helping people
2. Realize a lot of the job is about rejection and keeping mentally stable.
3. Care less about conflict with prospects, people being hardo's, folks who are bad fit prospects just looking for the lowest price.
4. Dedicate more time to the prospects and opportunities who appreciate great work, being treated like humans, and being educated and guided through a consultative sale.
5. Let those folks in #4 keep you in a positive vs. cold space

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notsoadultaboutthings

Sales turns you into a cold, 'I don't care' type of person...

51 comment

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