When I’m asked about guilt and regrets I often refer back to my days of being a door to door salesman. My objective at the time was made pretty clear by my employer: sell products and services to those that fall within a certain criteria. Looking back I wish my objective had been: sell products and services to those that really need them.
Persuading someone to side with cash when they don’t really need to should cause a huge amount of guilt. I only felt this once, and it wasn’t for large amounts of cash, but five years on I still think about it now and again. Once was too often.
One factor that can influence sales people into this action is a commission pay structure, especially if pay is commission only. Other factors can include pressures from management, chasing promotion and the buzz of a sale.
If you currently work in sales, or have done in the past, have you felt this guilt?
If you are constantly receiving sales pitches for products and services you don’t need, then why not ask about their motivation and bring guilt into the equation? It might make a difference.
We all have responsibilities within our jobs but sometimes personal responsibilities are much more important.
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