For some reason, sales has this reputation for being the “easy” job in a business. People love to imagine it’s just charming chats over coffee, sending a few cheeky emails, a very nice looking website, and raking in commission like it’s falling from the sky. Smile, dial, done. Right? Nope, that’s completely wrong!
People assume sales is simple because the hard parts don’t make it onto LinkedIn. No one’s posting about the eighth rejection before 10 am, or the lead that ghosted after three months of back-and-forth. No one’s bragging about spending 45 minutes crafting the perfect email… that never got opened. What people don’t see is the emotional whiplash, the endless adjusting, and the very real effort behind every single deal.
Honestly, sales isn’t just a job, rather, it’s a full-blown juggling act that requires patience, people skills, and the ability to stay calm when everything’s going sideways.
The Pressure’s Always On
In most jobs, success doesn’t reset every month. But in sales, it does. Hit your target? Okay, that’s brilliant. Enjoy it for ten seconds, because next month’s already started. Did you miss your target? Well, in that case, it doesn’t matter if the phones were down and every lead decided to take a “Q2 break,” it still counts.
Basically, there’s this constant push to be “on” all the time. Every call could be the call. Every email has to be the one that finally lands. And even when things go well, there’s always the quiet hum of “what’s next” sitting in the back of your head. If sales sometimes feels like trying to hit a moving target while being timed and judged, that’s because it basically is.
The Rejection isn’t Just Frequent, But It’s Personal
Sales is a job built on hearing “no.”Seriously, it actually is! And not just the polite, well-mannered sort. More like, rushed “not interested” phone hang-ups, emails that go straight to spam, or, everyone’s favourite (well, not really), the upbeat “circle back next quarter!” that really means “never.” If you’re in sales, then you know all of this rings true.
Most jobs don’t come with a built-in rejection loop. But in sales, it’s daily life. And even though it’s part of the role, it still stings sometimes. Especially when someone ghosts after weeks of promising chatter. It takes serious grit to keep showing up, especially when most of the responses are telling you to go away.
Everyone Thinks They Could Do It Better
There’s always that one person who actually believes that sales is a cake walk; they reckon they’d charm every lead, close every deal, and never send a “cringey” follow-up email. It’s clearly fantasy, and yeah, a lot of people are like this. You really don’t know how hard sales is until you actually step into it.
But the reality is, talking isn’t selling. Being good with people doesn’t automatically translate into being good at sales. It takes skill to ask the right questions, to really listen, and to know when to nudge or walk away. What looks effortless on the outside usually takes years of awkward calls, unread emails, and trial-and-error pitches behind the scenes.
If sales really were that easy, everyone would be smashing their targets without breaking a sweat.
There’s always someone quick to recommend the latest tool that promises to “make sales effortless.” And to be fair, some tools really do help. ZoomInfo, for example, makes it easier to find the right people, access company info, and cut down on all the aimless digging. ZoomInfo reviews often mention how much smoother prospecting feels with accurate data to work from. So, that alone should make sales a cake walk, then, right?
Well, no, it doesn’t work that way. You have to remember that even the best tools can’t write a compelling email for you. They won’t build trust or handle objections. They give you the map, but you’ve still got to do the walking. Sure, you can try and throw the whole “AI argument” into this, but you’ve seen for yourself how it doesn’t work too well for marketing, right? Well, it’s the same thing for sales, too.
The Emotional Rollercoaster is Real
One hour, you’re on top of the world, and someone finally signed after weeks of chasing. The next hour? A huge deal falls through, and it’s back to square one. Sales has a way of turning your day completely upside down, multiple times.
There’s this constant swing between hope, frustration, adrenaline, and sometimes just… pure silence. Really, it’s not for the faint-hearted. And it’s definitely not as easy as people think when they see you ringing a sales bell or high-fiving a colleague.
