A Sales Job – Not frowned upon anymore.

A job in sales was not something that an individual looking to make it big in the corporate world would even consider at the time of starting off his career. Well, that dreadful picture has kind of taken a curve into being, though not the biggest break one could have, but something that individuals consider as one that promises good returns, growth opportunities, learning, rewards and even recognition not only internally within the organisation but also externally – amongst social peers, family associates, etc. These kinds of amenities were alien about ten years ago.

One who gets into sales was treated as any layman worker who works for a normal living and is perceived as not looking for growth, one who knows only regional languages and cannot ever become a leader. Overtime, this notion of a job in sales has truly changed in that there has been constant revision incertain Human Resource Policies (in the form of provision of better work amenities as mentioned above). Previously people working in the sales department had Job designations and descriptions that sounded meagre; for instance the designations were mostly salesman, sales officer, sales manager that not only sounded pitiable but also had poor job descriptions with minimum exposure to growth and learning. With this change, sales jobs have become attractive with better packages, profiles requiring domestic and foreign trips, challenging tasks, etc.

With times changing we hear better designations in sales – Sales Executive, Manager-Sales Operations, Regional Manager in Sales, etc. most importantly I remember my Professor in Alliance Business School telling me that “if you aspire to grow in an organisation and earn a post that handles all domains like that of a General Manager then Sales is the job that will do it for you”. He also used a metaphor and exclaimed that “if Marketing is the entire arm, then Sales is your hand, without the hand your arm would be of no use”.

Well, all those who feel sales jobs are looked down upon. Think Again!