Change is painful. You’ll have to leave your reputation, your manager, and your biggest fans behind. You’ll be adopting new products, new quotas, new targets, and a new company culture.
It won’t be easy. Especially since you’re going to be leaving commissions and feelings of familiarity on the table.
But refuse to change, and opportunities will continue to fly right on by. Consider the following when contemplating a new sales role.
1. Start with What’s Working and What Isn’t
A clear-eyed evaluation of your current employer must come first, because understanding why you’re on the job market matters. Writing it down keeps you focused on the areas you’ll need to investigate when evaluating a new opportunity. (Haven’t done that thinking yet? Start with what you’re good at and what you need.)
Then find out as much as you can about the potential employer’s sales cycle, customers, pricing, contracts, expectations, turnover, leadership, solutions, and challenges. Compare those answers to your current situation.
This is how you avoid moving on to more of the same.
2. What Will This Employer Mean to Your Career in 5 Years?
Pick a large, name-brand employer and, assuming all goes well, you can easily build on your success and expand your professional network along the way. How much could that be worth to you?
Join a startup that’s growing, and if you survive, opportunities will come your way much faster than at a legacy company.
The right choice also depends on where you are in your sales career. Recognize that, and evaluate accordingly.
3. Why Company Culture Matters
It takes a cohesive team to achieve success, and you’ll need to be part of a company that attracts like-minded professionals.
Pick a culture that aligns with your values, and you’ll be more likely to survive compensation plan changes, the occasional bad boss who’ll inevitably come your way, and other unforeseen events. You’ll learn to cope, manage up, and resolve issues within the framework you’ve been given.
When the culture is right, you can weather the storms that are sure to come.
4. Is It Exciting? Can You Feel Real Passion for the Company, People, and Solutions?
Do you believe in the company’s offerings enough to succeed at selling them? You must feel strongly about what you’re selling. When you can’t get excited about the opportunity, you’ll struggle to engage potential customers.
Even worse, you’ll start to doubt yourself and your profession. And belief problems follow you: if you’ve watched it happen where you are now, you know what losing belief does to a rep’s win rate.
Do Your Homework
When you’re on the job hunt, you don’t need souped-up visionary powers. But you do need to do your homework: learning where you are in your sales career, understanding your long-term goals, and reflecting on the environments that are conducive to your success.
For the full company-side workup, run any serious candidate through the ten-factor evaluation. This quick gut-check plus that deep dive will go a long way toward better choices.
Finding a new employer is stressful and exciting at the same time, and the choices you make will impact your sales career for years to come. Use these tips to evaluate your motives, and to uncouple compensation promises from the real long-term value of a sales role.
The full framework for weighing your next move is in the complete guide to evaluating sales jobs and offers.
