EmptyCupOfTea

Growth Marketing Manager

Valued Contributor

What is one thing that sales has taught you that no other job has? I'll start

One thing that Sales has taught me that no other job has is that my time is precious and not to waste it. Which in return taught me how to prioritize my time, get the most of my time, and know when someone or something is wasting my time, and to cut that ASAP.

Recognizing dead-ends

Not the decision-maker
Taking time to respond
Not engaging
Brushing you off
Being indecisive

Harsh as it may be if I'm talking to someone trying to sell and I get a feeling they're not really into it then I will instantly move on to the next. I don't need to try and convince you to buy from me when you're not even listening, there are a million others who will listen to me.

Prioritizing

Which tasks are important and which can wait
When is the deadline for these tasks, can I push back some dates
How difficult are the tasks I have to do
How long will each task take and can I reprioritize them

A lot of people will do tasks as they come along which will eat away at their time and that will stop them from doing what's really important right there and then. Instead whenever what I do is simple.

Fridays I will plan my tasks for next week and break them down by day so I know what I'm doing and not run around like a headless chicken

When new tasks come in, I will always ask:

Is this urgent?
When does this need to be done
Can someone else do it?
Do I have time to do it or do I have other important things to attend to?

This, in return, will tell you exactly how to handle your workload.

Should I be spending time on this?

Going back to the other points, you now have a few things to do, but some tasks will give you higher results than others, so I will always ask myself if this task is worth it or not. I ask:

Is this task the most important on my to-do list?
Will this deal make me more than the others?
How difficult is this going to be and if I do 2 simpler tasks, will they give me the same results?
Can I delegate or swap tasks with someone? You never know, someone might be happy to take a lead off your hands for one of theirs.
Is this worth my time or can I focus on something better?

So there it is, this is what Sale has taught me that no other role did. What did Sales teach you?

👑 Sales Strategy

😎 Sales Skills

💼 Productivity

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19 comments

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poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

9

☕️

Sales taught me to get specific, quickly, and keep things brief.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

5

🦊

This plus I learned the value and importance of a paper trail.

Kinonez

Celebrated Contributor

7

War Room Enthusiast

How important is to keep the client happy and how critical post sale services are to your brand.

ChumpChange

Politicker

5

Channel Manager

How important active listening is.

EmptyCupOfTea

Valued Contributor

0

Growth Marketing Manager

100%

hh456

Celebrated Contributor

5

sales

people exist in a natural state of over inflated self importance. i hate everyone. i used to trust easy and love fast and now i distrust everyone and my heart hurts.

sorry if that got too deep too quick.

Cipher

Opinionated

1

Enterprise Account Executive

Haha by far the best response

UserNotFound

Politicker

5

Account Executive

Sales taught me how to embrace silence. Let people talk themselves into/out of things.

EmptyCupOfTea

Valued Contributor

3

Growth Marketing Manager

I feel so evil doing that but I still do it, it tells you a lot about the person on the other end of the call.

MinisterOfChaos

Politicker

5

Commercial Account Executive

You can do everything right and still lose.

And that's ok.

Other than that, I've learned incredibly effective communication skills that I apply in my personal life on a daily basis, not least of which is active listening.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

4

Rolling 20's all day

That just about anything is negotiable. And you can approach situations 1000 different ways for different results.

AlphaCharlie

Arsonist

4

Account executive

To think outside the box

GDO

Politicker

2

BDM

The one thing I learned is to be prepared. Also just ask. Before I was scared to ask what I wanted. Now I don’t care if people say no.

we have a saying. If you don’t ask it s a NO for sure.

FamilyTruckster

Politicker

0

Exec Director, Major Accounts

Just ask is huge! When speaking to potential customers that are with a competitor, I flat out ask what their deal is. Most will open right up

sellingsellssold

Politicker

1

SDR

How to actually talk to people both professionally and casually

Diablo

Politicker

0

Sr. AE

To me in one line - Sales has taught me to be more respectful apart from all the pointers you mentioned

EmptyCupOfTea

Valued Contributor

0

Growth Marketing Manager

Customer service will do that to you 😂

TheDuchess

Opinionated

0

Sales Enablement Queen

Sales has taught me just how many big ‘innovative’ brands having gaping holes in how they are running their business. It’s great because there’s always room to sell a solution and also shows how even the biggest companies and experts aren’t perfect

FamilyTruckster

Politicker

0

Exec Director, Major Accounts

Have a thick skin. I care deeply about results and how I’m perceived. When a customer lights me up it always hurts… but over time I’ve learned to get over it quicker. Take the lessons, not the digs.

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