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3 Millennial Misconceptions About Sales

Your CareerSales

A recent Wall Street Journal article reported that companies selling technology and other services to corporate customers are struggling to fill potentially lucrative sales jobs. Why? Millennials are shunning sales. They are missing a great opportunity because of their misconceptions about sales.

Sales Misconception #1.

Sales is shoving stuff down people’s throats.

Sales is not that.

My definition of selling is helping a customer make a great buying decision. I think of my iPad and MacBook Pro purchases every day and it brings me joy. A sales professional helped make that purchase happen. When you sell industrial products to businesses you allow them to thrive. When you sell products to consumers you have the opportunity to bring them happiness. I can’t think of anything that’s better than that!

Sales Misconception #2.

Sales is too risky.

The millennials have lived through the financial crisis and recession so they are more risk-averse. What is more risky? Being in a job where you are unable to define and quantify your results or one in which you can quantify your results in dollars?

Sales is only risky if you are afraid to work hard and you lack confidence in your own abilities.

Sales Misconception #3.

Sales is a hard charging environment where success boils down to a number.

Hard charging? Probably. Success boiling down to a number? Hardly.

When I was a kid I hated people telling me what to do.

That’s why I love sales.

What better job is there than to take a basic communication strategy and personalize it to match your style and help a customer make a great buying decision? That’s an intellectual challenge. It’s an emotional challenge.

Do you still think sales success only boils down to a number? How about the joy you get from being in a job that is totally satisfying, challenging and rewarding? I might add that sales reps who sell technical and scientific products earned a median annual wage of $74,970 in 2012, more than twice the median for all workers, according to the Labor Department.

Some of you might define your success by how much you can earn. That’s where sales allows you to thrive. You control the results you get with your efforts.

I hope I’ve cleared up some unfortunate misconceptions about sales. I'm looking to mentor a few millennials who want to bet on themselves, accept a challenge and look to serve their customers well. Selling is one of the few jobs where uncertainty sounds appealing and the possibility of huge rewards are fantastic. Maybe that’s the description of sales that fits you if you’re a millennial.

Profile: Maura Schreier-Fleming

Maura Schreier-Fleming is president of Best@Selling, a sales training and sales consulting company. She works with business and sales professionals to increase sales and earn larger profits. She is the author of Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results and Monday Morning Sales Tips. Maura focuses on sales strategies and tactics that lead to better sales results. Maura is a sales expert for WomenSalesPros. She is part of their group of top sales experts who inspire, educate, and develop salespeople and sales teams.She speaks internationally on influence, selling skills, and strategic selling at trade association and sales meetings, demonstrating how her principles can be applied to get results. She successfully worked for over 20 years in the male-dominated oil industry with two major corporations, beginning at Mobil Oil and ending at Chevron Corp. She was Mobil Oil’s first female lubrication engineer in the U.S. and was one of Chevron’s top five salespeople in the U.S. having sold over $9 million annually. Maura writes several columns to share her sales philosophies. She's been quoted in the New York Times, Selling Power, and Entrepreneur.