Can you be a Sales Rep for your whole career- Yes you can

About 4 years ago I was in a car travelling to a meeting with a young, likable, very ambitious but not the sharpest blade in the draw Account Manager intern.  He was 21 years old, been in sales about 12 months and was driven to rising through the ranks swiftly. He had been assigned to me to tag along and learn the tricks of the trade, how we relayed our value proposition and just the pure fundamentals of 101 sales. The customer was a Government Research Facility and during the course of the conversation the topic of the customer’s carrier was brought up - I asked him if they were using the AARNet Network and they were, so I proceeded to tell them the AARNet network was built on our technology and then I hear this young lad chime over the top of me - “No they aren’t, I spoke to them last week - they use xxx and didn't want to talk to us”. I gently corrected him and stated that AARNet had been a long term and very happy user of our technology but this young buck would not back down - “ NO I am telling you - AARNet have been using xxx for years and said they wouldn't change”.

At this point I had 2 x possible courses of action - let this young man know that AARNet are a Research and Education based Telco not a bloody biscuit company  - but it would have been unprofessional to do that in front of the client. So I gave him a "gentle" stare and diverted the conversation with the passing final comment - I will broker an introduction between AARNet (the Carrier not the Biscuit Manufacturer) and the research facility.

When we left that meeting and back in the car - I took a few deep breaths before I launched into a conversation about how one should never comment on something unless they are 100℅ sure else you will lose not just respect but also your integrity. He took this with good grace and then proceeded to ask me “ why are you still a sales rep at your age “. Fair to say this man had no filter but also probably a fair question in his book. It really got me thinking “ why am I still a sales rep at age 45 !.

Through the course of my career I have had many opportunities to elevate into a management capacity and was earmarked as a future leader a number of times and started on the course of accelerated management training. But my heart was never really in it, I went along with it because it seemed the right thing to do, if others thought I could be good at managing then perhaps I would be. Well I wasn’t!

I took on a sales management role tasked with hiring a team of 5 and managing them. The hiring bit was easy, I was given a very decent recruitment budget and hired some of the best in the industry for roles covering Sales, Business Development, Marketing and Services. But being decent at sales does not maketh a great Sales Manager. Let's go through my list of shortcomings.

• I couldn't work out the line between being a friend and being a manager.
• I really didn't like delivering bad news. I would sugar coat bad news to the point it was never relayed correctly.
• As a counselor I was useless, I would take other people's problems on board and especially if they were personal issues I would try to solve them rather than help them manage their work to accommodate.
• I loved to celebrate good news but swept bad news such as shitty forecasting or customer complaints under the rug.
• The day I had to advise someone that their perf review and subsequent work ethic meant they had to tender their resignation rather than let them go, was so poorly handled by me that the poor chap had no idea if he was being fired or if I was just telling him to pull up his socks.
• Management requires significant attention to detail, numbers being reported up the chain must be accurate and on time - another shortcoming that attention to detail.

So in short I came to the realization that where I am happiest and most effective is as an individual contributor as part of a team not as that person who manages the team.

As you age it shouldn't mean you have to step up the level of seniority as you reach each chronological milestone. Some of the most respected and influential people I know operate at ground zero, the coalface. Having the title of Manager, Director ,VP does not define your career or how successful you are, it simply defines the choices you have made relative to your strengths.

I say regardless of your profession, bus driver, bank teller, laborer, sales rep - if you love what you do and you are good at what you do then that is what defines success.

So yes, you can be a sales rep or whatever you take joy in as a career with pride for your entire working life.