Sales professionals are more inclined to saying 'yes' to unacceptable job roles. Possibly, this is on the grounds that they will, in general, be excessively hopeful and see just the positives of the job until it's past the point of no return. Or, on the other hand, it could be on the grounds that they're no different than customers on a basic level who thoroughly enjoy a decent sales pitch.
Whatever the whys and the wherefores, taking up a terrible sales vacancy can result in significant issues career-wise. Regardless of how talented you are at selling, the organization you work for will ultimately decide your fate—good or bad.
The problems with your sales job will emerge not long after you start your job. Questions will mushroom in your mind when you perceive that the position is nothing like what was depicted. Truth be told, the divergence between the employer guarantees and the work you handle will become all the more comprehensive as you drag on.
And you won't take much time nor your superior intellect to realize that you committed an error. However, at that point you'll be confronted by the difficulty of choice: to start your sales job search all over again, or just hang on to the bitter experience you just signed-up for, even if it's for a little while longer.
Luckily, you can keep away from this unsavory situation by being more investigative, much before saying 'yes' to the sales job offer, or better yet, much before applying to the sales job or attending the sales job interview.
Let's take a look at what you can investigate about the sales job on offer.
The Question About Leads: Where Will You Get Them?
A confused or muddled reaction from the sales job interviewer will imply that there's only one way you'll get leads—by uncovering them yourself. Assuming you are drawn towards investing all your energy attempting to find your next prospect as opposed to pitching to prospects, accept the position right away.
However, if you're of the opinion that you are a true sales professional, wait for the right company that has a sales lead generation program that isn't just well planned, but also continuous. Just so you know, it's the duty of the business organization to invest their resources in uncovering qualified leads for its sales team.
If this isn't the case with the potential employer, you'll be more of a promoter than a salesman. Also, you'll be paid much worse than what your qualification and experience actually deserves.
The Slow-Selling Times For The Organization
Here is yet another enquiry that gives you the freedom to understand the overall health of the organization without being extremely intrusive.
When you ask them when the dip in sales occurs for the company and the interviewer says something along the lines of May and June being the slowest months, and November, December too not lagging far behind the aforementioned, year in year out, you realize something other than the organization's sluggish sales periods.
You additionally realize that down periods are customary at the company. Everybody at the firm has come to acknowledge the way that sales dips occur for 4 months out of 12 every year. You additionally realize that nobody has thought, at any point, of ever coming up with a tangible solution (like a marketing campaign for example) to manage the issue.
What does this mean? If sales dips are customary at the company and there is no viable solution being thought of, nor is there any effort from anyone, you'll be the one to eventually take the fall for the dip in sales, regardless of what used to happen in the past.
A Dedicated Marketing Team—Does It Even Exist?
Here's the fact: if you enquire about the marketing team and someone gives you a full tour of the floor and then shows you where a dedicated marketing team is planted in the office (which should be as close as possible to the sales team), then you know that the sales department and whatever they do is given utmost priority.
If however, you get to know that the company has hired a bunch of multitaskers who do not have proven marketing skills or knowledge, then you will realize that the company doesn't know the true potential of marketing, or perhaps, they don't even know what marketing means.
Second, they do not have any interest in marketing their product(service) whatsoever. Third, the company is directionless and does not have defined goals. And finally, the company does not have any solid plans to achieve targets, move forward and grow.
What else? The 3 reasons above should be enough to convince you to stay away from the company at all costs.
