No no no, no no no yes.
Most sales calls end with a “no.” All day long, week after week, year after year. Rejection upon rejection upon rejection.
Given that, why do people work in sales?
For great salespeople, the answer is the “thrill of the hunt,” i.e., the rush of excitement that comes from closing a sale. But that is not the whole story. Great salespeople like people. They like learning about other people’s problems, and they especially like solving other people’s problems.
Give a great salesperson a great solution, and they are not detracted by the people who are not buying. That gets easily dismissed when they find the people who care about the problem being solved and who are happy to see a solution they can buy.
Note that I’m talking about great salespeople. There are certainly other salespeople who have other motivations. Some who only care about how much they make upon closing a sale. Who couldn’t care less about what they are selling and whether it works or not.
For your startup, you need to find salespeople who care about your customers. Your salespeople interact with your potential and actual customers more than anyone else in your organization, so be picky about who you hire to do that job.
And looking beyond their internal motivations, the next few chapters will provide some external motivations and organizational methods to ensure your salespeople maximize their efforts.
