Why do salespeople quit their job?
More money? Better job opportunity? Don’t like what they are doing? Don’t like their boss? Don’t like their corporate politics? Don’t like how you’re being treated as a person? Don’t feel the company is supporting you as a salesperson? Just had their commissions cut? Company going back on their word about paying or deal structure? Not paid what you felt you were owed? Just lost their best customer to the competition?
Answer: some or all of the above.
Salespeople seem to hopscotch jobs as moths flutter from one light bulb to the next, trying to find the brightest one. I don’t think the question is just, “reason for leaving.” I think it goes deeper. I think it’s “cause and effect,” and even deeper, “motive.” Motive being a short word for motivation.
This issue is further complicated by the fact that most people, when they do leave a job, won’t tell the boss their real reason for leaving. Oh, they give a stated reason like better opportunity, more money, but there’s always an underlying motive. An unspoken reason. Like, “I hate you.”
And then there’s the boss, who has to tell his other people why the salesperson quit. Standard reasons, better opportunity or more money.
If you’re the boss, and you throw the person who quit under the bus and back up, it sends a message to every other person on the team that you’re going to do the same thing to them if they leave. Not a real boost to morale. If you’re the salesperson and you don’t have the guts to tell the boss the real reason why you’re leaving, then you’re going to have to be willing to accept your fate with respect to the trashing that you’re going to take.
There are no easy answers here. Some industries are more incestuous than others. Banking, personnel, accounting and advertising seem to have an excessive amount of job hopscotching going on.
The subject is why are you quitting and what can you do to build your career?
I get a minimum of 10 requests a week from salespeople wanting to quit their job and asking for advice. What I tell them is what I’m going to tell you:
n List the real reasons that you dislike what you’re currently doing.
n Now, list the reasons that you like what you’re doing.
n Add a one-sentence description to both the dislike and the like column to give yourself further insight as to “why.”
n Ask yourself which one of the bad things will be eliminated at the new job and which one of the good things will continue at the new job.
n Call people at the place you want to work or that you’ve just been hired to work at and find out what they like and dislike.
n Write down what you feel you gain (other than money) at your new position and ask yourself could you have gained the same thing at your old position?
n Become the No. 1 salesperson at your existing company, then quit. If you’re thinking about leaving your job and you are not the top salesperson, it is likely that you will not be the No. 1 salesperson at your next job, and it is even more likely that you will bring half your disgruntlement to your next job. If you stay at your present job until you become the No. 1 salesperson, no boss will be able to throw you under the bus, you leave a hero of the company, you leave with pride and you leave with the attitude of a winner, not a whiner.
So here’s your opportunity: Quit complaining, quit whining about your job or your circumstance, quit trashing other people to make yourself look good, and just dig in. If you really consider yourself great at sales, then attaining the No. 1 position shouldn’t be much of a problem.
There are rewards for being No. 1. People will be nicer to you in your company. You may even earn some degree of respect, your value in the marketplace will increase, you’ll have choices, genuine choices, and you’ll have the peace of mind of knowing that you’ve done it for the right reasons, not the negative reasons. •
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of 12 best-selling books, including “21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling.” He can be reached at salesman@gitomer.com.
