Sales shame holding back the profession

21st March 2019 |   Journal Of Sales Transformation

Shame and stigma surrounding sales is a key contributor to poor UK productivity, according to a poll conducted by Censuswide.

Nearly a third (31.1%) of UK managers believe that “sales shame” is negatively impacting their business growth, the survey of 1,000 managers found. In addition, more than a quarter (27%) of managers also believe that this sales shame is holding back the UK economy.

At the same time, sales continues to be one of the most difficult roles to recruit for, while school leavers have voted sales as the least attractive career.

Commissioned by business development consultancy Sandler Training, the research aims to offer insight into why the sales industry is so poorly perceived and the business and economic impact of this.

Shaun Thomson, CEO, Sandler Training (UK) told the Journal: “Sales has always had a bad reputation. Sales staff are stereotypically seen as junior and transient, and as such industry and academics rarely view it as ‘real’ profession.”