Why is there still a stigma attached to the word sales, even after 25 years?
And why is there still a negative association with the sales profession?
When you ask people, including salespeople, their perception of a sales professional, you’ll still hear reference to the “sleazy car salesperson” – a profession ranked only second to politicians in least respected jobs according to a Global News Report from 2018.
Even though I’ve been in sales for over 25 years, it’s pathetic that this negative perception of salespeople still exists, and the needle has moved very little.
What do sales professionals have to do to change this perception?
It’s simpler than you think.
The good news is that the demand is very high for sales professionals with no immediate signs of it slowing down.
Professional Sales is ranked as one of Canada’s 7 most in-demand future-proof jobs, according to a recent study by the CPSA – Canadian Professional Sales Association. 90% of commercial sales professionals believe sales is a good job. 70% of sales professionals would recommend a job in sales to family or friends considering a new career.
If we want to change the stigma associated with sales and sales professionals, we need to be creating a sales movement. Share on XBut in order to change this sales stigma, we need to ask ourselves:
What do other career professionals, like accountants, engineers, human resource practitioners, teachers, lawyers, and doctors, do to earn respect and trust?
They simply ask questions to learn more about a person/business situation, and then they prescribe solutions and recommendations.
We need to do the same in order to change the stigma associated with the sales business.
When you look at the chart below, which side are you hanging out on?
| STOP the Sales Stigma | START the Sales Movement |
| Talking | Listening |
| Being an order taker | Adding more value |
| Re-active | Pro-active |
| Product & Price Conversations | Purposeful Business Conversations |
| Being just another vendor | Earning Respect, building trust & Partnerships |
If we want to change the stigma associated with sales and sales professionals, we need to be creating a sales movement.
Ask relevant questions, listen carefully, and provide solutions and recommendations that are in their best interest.
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.