Why do Millennials shun sales careers? According to Jamie Scarborough, co-founder of the Sales Talent Agency and PROFITguide columnist, “Young people do not look at sales as a realistic, ideal career path.” Canadian Business believe that pop culture poorly presents the sales’ arena; specifically, in movies such as Mad Men and Glengarry Glen Ross, through smooth talking and manipulative salespeople.
Scarborough aims to defer this message, stating that some of the world’s most successful companies make revenues through selling. These companies include Apple, Google, and Facebook. By 2020, half of the workforce will be made up of Millennials. Subsequently, HubSpot contends that 36% of companies plan to increase availability in their sale’s market. Additionally, SalesLoft believe that the Millennial generation will be composed of the best sales people. Millennials are native to the digital world including social platforms. Social media has changed the playing field in the sales force with 78% of salespeople using these digital sites to stand out among their peers. SalesLoft states, “LinkedIn and Twitter are invaluable for listening, engaging, and building relationships with prospects. While social selling is a relatively new buzz term for the industry as a while, it is second nature to millennials.” Millennials since their youth have been trained to use tools including Salesforce, Google Drive, and Evernote. These tools are adopted twice as fast by Millennials than the remainder of the world and can be used to save time and can widen accessibility.
Next to having an entrepreneurial spirit, Millennials are data driven and are excellent problem solvers. Unlike past generations, Millennials have a passion for what they sell and truly believe in the products themselves. They are not aggressive in nature but rather are committed to the company and positive interactions with customers. Overall, when a company considers hiring for a sales position, they should highly consider a Millennial.
BoweryJE22
Very interesting post. I found it interesting how in just a few years, 2020, have off the workforce will be millennials. “Unlike past generations, Millennials have a passion for what they sell and truly believe in the products themselves.” Although this generation as a whole is under scrutiny, this line shows that they may have hope. Great post!
Really liked how you talked about millennials being great hires for a sales force. Since many millennials want to work for companies that make an impact, I think this is what makes us good salespeople. We not only want to sell well for our jobs, but also for the causes and companies we believe in!
My parents were less than thrilled when I told them that I might want to go into sales for a company. Well, newsflash, most people start out in sales because 1) the job causes you to learn about the company and product, and 2) you learn how to communicate with customers. This post is spot on- Millennials such as myself will go into sales, and they are well-equipped to tackle the job.
What makes yous say, “Unlike past generations, Millennials have a passion for what they sell and truly believe in the products themselves,” ? That seems wildly unfair, why wouldn’t past generations have passion for what they sell? In some ways I think it’d be more reasonable to assume that past generations would hold more loyalty and passion for their companies than millennials. Why do you say that?