A friend from university recently came up to me at a recruitment event and said, “Samantha, of all the people I knew at Brandeis, you are the last person I would see doing this. I mean the company looks cool and everything, but sales?”
Resisting the urge to launch into a lengthy lecture on all the reasons I love my job, I put myself in his shoes and admitted that three years ago I probably wouldn’t have seen myself in sales either.
I was your typical Brandeis overachiever, juggling two majors and a minor with countless internships, managing my school’s newspaper in my free time, and trying to figure out how I was going to be the youngest person ever to start my own news organization. After graduating, I won a fellowship with the International Radio and Television Society, a program that gives a small group of promising young people an opportunity to spend three months in New York City, meeting and networking with executives in all facets of the media industry.
I was very lucky to havehad this opportunity. It gave me a cold, hard look at the way the media industry operates — beyond what professors tell you.
We listened to presentations from executives from media companies like CNBC, Fuse TV, Spike TV, Arbitron, Reed Television Group, Crown Media, and HBO. It quickly struck me that none of these people were journalists. The men and women who are running the industry that means so much to me did not start their careers as precocious young reporters or muckraking sleuths, but rather as – salespeople. Tom Kane, President and CEO of CBS started his career with 10 years in sales. Ralph Guild, the legendary Chairman of Interep, built his empire in the radio industry through sales. One after another, executives would tell us, “take a look at working in sales. It’s a great way to have an impact on this industry.”
I realized that if I wanted to run my own media company before the age of 30, I was going to need to get a solid foundation in business, specifically in sales. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to apply for a job that was overtly sales. I couldn’t shake off that unspoken prejudice that exists in academia–the tacit assumption that there is something dishonest or shameful about the act of “selling”—which indeed was supported by my conservative English background, where it is seen as impolite to even talk about money, let alone ask for it.
So, I spent three months working in management consulting and I learned it wasn’t for me. 40 hours a week of staring at Excel taught me that I needed to be intellectually challenged or my mind would go numb. I took the plunge and applied for the International Management Trainee program at Meltwater. I’ve never made a better move in my life.
If you think about it, the economy—so often seen an intimating, abstract force—is nothing but a series of transactions. Those transactions are between people who buy and people who sell. If you are the one selling, you are the one who is driving the transaction. Salespeople drive the economy. We create revenue, we create jobs, and we provide the foundation for progress and innovation.
On top of that, sales is fun! There is something about the thrill of the chase, something about that feeling you get when you know that your ideas are good, and you know you can make a difference to a company, when you are so sure of your convictions that even the most weathered c-level executives can’t resist your arguments—it is exhilarating, and incredibly gratifying.
Two years after joining Meltwater, at the age of 25, I have the job I have always wanted. As the Managing Director of the Boston office, I am basically running my own business. I learn something new every day about psychology, decision-making and persuasion. I hope that I am making a positive impact on the people around me, and I go home every day feeling as though I have accomplished something important.
There is no better way to learn the skills necessary for management than business-to-business consultative sales. Sales taught me how to be confident, how to be eloquent, how to fight for my ideas and how to stand up for what I believe. I no longer shirk from giving very direct feedback to my team members. I can call anyone and have a great conversation, and I can comfortably stand up in front of the executive board of any major company and shine in the spotlight.
To summarize, prejudice against sales stems from ignorance. If you want to make a transition to management while still in your twenties, think about selling. If all else fails, you become really good at convincing people of things, which is a great skill for any walk of life.
I should hope at this point you’re pretty much sold on sales, right? ☺
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Great post, Samantha! As a former TV News Reporter, I completely identify with what you are saying. Sales was a great skill to build and continues to be relevant to my work today, even though I am no longer on the front lines closing deals.
Samantha, may your inspiring post accelerate the careers of those who read it! Your friends at the IRTS Foundation are so pleased to be credited with the degree to which you have mastered the art of business alchemy! We look forward to the privilege of having you mentor future IRTS Fellows, and we wish you much continued success.
Nice blog Sam! Great to hear how you fell in love with sales.
Excellent post. Two lessons learned:
1. Sales does not have to be that evil stereotype. In fact, done right is nothing like that.
2. Effective leadership requires understanding the value that good selling brings to development and management process.
Happy to hear you joined “the club” and found its value.
I have to say that I have always held the same prejudice towards sales people as was mentioned in the blog. But having been a like minded student overachiever including studying a BSc in Psychology and Sociology, representing the student body to the faculty, then running the student parliament and sitting on the board of director of the university, whilst simultaneously working as a voluntary civil advocate for an NGO in Edinburgh and holding down a 30h a week job to pay for my degree! I find myself wondering if I am also a “sales” person after all.
My partner is in sales and it seems she couldn’t be happier but after all my hard work and a good education I find myself somehow unemployed. How did that work out?
For the first time thanks to Samantha’s blog, I am thinking of putting aside my prejudice and looking at sale! who knows it sounds like I might well find happiness again.