The Salesman!

Sales is the worst job that one can get into. It is also the best job if one makes it through. Although it is a fact that sales guys are frequently subjected to needless haranguing, often because of the dictatorial tendencies of their bosses, it is also true that from an organisational perspective, they are the most respected and valued for. They also enjoy the best of salaries and incentives. All this cuz they generate the one thing that drives the company – Revenue.

So a typical day of a sales person is as follows:

Morning:
- Get up all tensed, cuz if you don’t get that deal today, then your happiness for the remainder of the month will certainly be humped.
- Go to office. Give projection/commitment for the month and for the day (thank god we are spared for the hourly figures)!
Daytime:
- Go to field. Meet Clients (if there are scheduled meetings), else ‘Cold call’ if in the mood. If not, Bunk. Park your car in the shade. Switch on A/C & Music. Sleep. Put your phone on not reachable. Do operations work if any.
Evening:
- Give update on daily sale. Send Sale report. Fix meetings for next day.
Night:
- Conference call with boss. Sale report dissected. Spanking session on for 45mins-1 hour. Sleep. (Sleep well cuz you are obviously tired of the spanking).

Individuals with certain characteristics only can succeed in sales – ones who are aggressive, who have the ability to rough it out in the field without the comforts of an air-conditioned environment and literally work 24X7 & of course who can handle the immense pressure! Aside from this, luck too plays an important role.

In my tenure as a seller of technology, ad space & prepaid sim cards, I had my share of hits & misses. There were occasions where I was severely pulled up for non performance, abused by my bosses, threatened that I would lose my job etc...but also occasions where I was praised for quality work and cracking improbable deals. I also firmly believe that good salespersons are best suited to become entrepreneurs because they know ‘Business Development’ in the real sense.

The only downside to sales as I saw it was that at the end of the day, only one thing mattered – The Excel sheet! No matter how hard one tried to crack a deal, the efforts were not accounted for. Ultimately, it was only the “Target v/s Achievement” sheet that mattered. And the guys who topped this sheet (by hook or crook) were the ones who climbed up the ladder!