Having just signed a one year contract with a new client before the holidays I was anxious to begin working with them. My job would be to restructure their selling strategy (for inside and outside sales) to reach a $4million sales target by January 2016. I called the owner to set up our first education class and learned that his outside sales rep had just quit. Ron, a nice guy, had barely been with the company two years. My client is now busy trying to hire a replacement. Losing salespeople is so darn costly for employers. It hurts their bottom line and their reputation.
Ron likely thought he was coming to a better selling job when he came to work for my client. I’m sure he thinks he’s going to a better selling job now. It is the fate of too many salespeople, once they step into, what I call, ‘the revolving door of selling’ to repeat their mistake over and over again.
Yes of course there is the stress and the constant rejection … punishing sales quotas and commissions … maybe even an employer BULLY to blame. I can tell you those were not the reasons here. So what made Ron quit? Answer: the ‘WAY’ was expected to sell prior to my intervention. It would have changed, had he only waited. That ‘WAY’ of selling is why sales people are disliked and avoided. There IS a better way to sell. Please do not quit your job.