Five Reasons Every Entrepreneur Should Start in Sales

One may wonder if any overlap exists between entrepreneurship and sales. If you guessed yes, you’re correct. In the article, Five Reasons Every Entrepreneur Should Start in Sales, Parth Misra highlights the relationship that exists between entrepreneurship and sales and offers validation for why an aspiring entrepreneur should start in sales.  Misra cites tenacity, networking, persuasiveness, realistic goals, and comprehending market needs as five reasons that sales are amenable to entrepreneurship. Misra highlights tenacity as a trait commonly attributed to salespeople, particularly as sales are highly dependent upon volume and numbers. Misra exemplifies the role of tenacity and the importance of follow up with prospective customers by acknowledging that 80% of sales occur between the fifth and twelfth contact with the client. In addition to tenacity, Misra cites networking as vital to sales persons, as they are always searching for potential customers. He highlights the importance of identifying prospective customers and being able to connect with working professionals in order to seek guidance and help as they navigate their career path. In essence, Misra suggests that the true value of networking is the relational aspect of the transaction; however, he does offer caution regarding the use of persuasion and the need to avoid manipulation of the customer. He highlights that salespersons should be open and honest with prospective clients and focus on how their product or service will improve this individual’s life.  In addition to acknowledging the relation building opportunity of sales, Misra recognizes the value of realistic goal setting and an awareness of market needs, critical skills of a successful salesperson, as offering future potential and opportunity. He emphasizes that by working in sales, individuals will learn the art of formulating goals and being able to identify their progress in achieving these goals through key performance indicators such as benchmarks and targets. Misra highlights the use of the acronym “SMART” (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound) in his discussion of goal setting. Misra further acknowledges the unique opportunity that sales offer to identify market needs through the objectives and complaints of their customer base. Such conversations offer the opportunity to minimize the production of a product that lacks demand and subsequently avoid a business failure, essentially key information for successful entrepreneurship. In essence, Misra presents a comprehensive argument of how the traits and training of a salesperson- tenacity, networking, persuasion, realistic goal setting and an awareness of market needs- are synonymous with the traits and training necessary for successful entrepreneurship. Misra’s insight certainly bolsters the potential and possibilities of a sales position and piques one’s curiosity of where the next successful entrepreneur is working today.

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/315650