I have been working in sales for a big chunk of my career.
That’s a fact that’s hard to get my head around, because what I do today is so different from what I thought working in sales was all about.
Long ago, I believed that to succeed in sales, you had to be a schemer and a swindler. But my opinion changed when I started working with sales people who didn’t fit that description. They were kind, ethical, clever, and transparent, and they were far more successful than the snake-oil sellers I imagined in my head.
Eventually, I started my own businesses, and now I too work in sales every day. To keep my pipeline full, I’ve had to unlearn a lot of my own prejudices about sales, and study the sales techniques that work.
In this article, I’m going to break down some of the misconceptions about working in sales, and show you a better framework for understanding whether a career in sales is right for you.
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1. You have to be loud and extroverted
❌ The misconception: To be successful working in sales, you have to be an extremely outgoing person. If you are loud, brash, and a sharp-tongued conversationalist, you’ll succeed. If you are quiet, thoughtful, or introverted, a career in sales isn’t for you.
✅ The truth: Strong communication skills are vital for a career in sales, but that doesn’t mean you have to be a high-energy extrovert, and you definitely don’t need to be loud or brash to succeed.
Your ability to actively listen and read the room is just as important as your ability to communicate, and that’s hard to do if you are interrupting people, or if you come off as intimidating, cocky, or overly friendly.
➡️ The takeaway for success: Focus on matching the energy of your leads. Let them show you how they are most comfortable communicating and interacting, and adjust your own style to meet them.
2. You have to be manipulative or pushy
❌ The misconception: Sales success comes from high-pressure tactics, manipulation, and wearing people down until they say yes. The best salespeople are smooth talkers who can convince anyone to buy anything, even if it’s not in their best interest.
✅ The truth: Modern sales is built on trust, problem-solving, and genuine relationships. Pushy tactics might generate short-term results, but they create customer dissatisfaction, poor reviews, and zero repeat business. The most successful salespeople act as consultants who help customers make informed decisions.
When you focus on understanding your customer’s actual needs and presenting honest solutions, you build a reputation that brings referrals and long-term success. People can sense authenticity, and they’re much more likely to buy from someone they trust over someone who makes them feel pressured.
➡️ The takeaway for success: Lead with curiosity about your customer’s challenges and goals. Ask thoughtful questions, listen carefully to the answers, and only recommend solutions that genuinely fit their situation. Trust me—your integrity will be your biggest competitive advantage.
3. Working in sales requires a lot of in-person interaction
❌ The misconception: Real sales happen with firm handshakes, face-to-face meetings, and reading body language across a conference table. If you’re not great at in-person interactions or prefer working remotely, sales isn’t for you.
✅ The truth: The sales world has shifted dramatically toward virtual interactions, and many of the most successful salespeople today rarely meet their clients in person. Phone calls, video conferences, and email communication have become the standard, especially in industries like software, consulting, and direct sales.
For example, many Vector sales representatives conduct their pitches entirely over Zoom.
Remote sales actually levels the playing field in many ways. It removes geographical barriers, reduces travel costs, and allows you to focus purely on your communication skills rather than physical presence. Some people are naturally more comfortable and articulate over the phone or video than they are in person.
➡️ The takeaway for success: Master the tools of virtual selling. Develop a professional phone presence, become comfortable on video calls, and learn to build rapport through digital communication. These skills are increasingly valuable across all industries, but especially in sales.
4. You need years of experience to make good money
❌ The misconception: Sales is a grind where you start at the bottom, work your way up slowly, and only see decent earnings after putting in years of dues. Entry-level salespeople are stuck with terrible territories, impossible quotas, and minimal income while they “learn the ropes.”
Related: How to move up in a company
✅ The truth: Sales is one of the few careers where performance matters more than tenure. A motivated beginner with the right training and work ethic can out-earn veterans within months. Many sales roles, including those at Vector, offer commission-based compensation that directly rewards results, meaning your income potential isn’t capped by your experience level.
Vector provides comprehensive training programs specifically designed to get new salespeople productive quickly. That’s what makes it perfect for college students who want to pick up valuable life skills while paying their way through school.
Related: How to get a job with no experience
➡️ The takeaway for success: Focus on developing your skills rapidly rather than waiting for experience to accumulate naturally. Seek out companies that invest in training, ask questions, and don’t be afraid to set ambitious goals early in your career.
5. You have to work crazy hours to be successful
❌ The misconception: They talk about the ABCs in Sales: “Always Be Closing.” The salespeople who make the most sales are the ones who are always on—coming in early, staying late, working weekends, and never taking vacation. To make it a job in sales financially lucrative, you have to sacrifice work-life balance.
✅ The truth: Yes, there are sales jobs out there where you can work around the clock and make good money doing so. But it’s by no means a requirement. In fact, one of the things Vector sales people say they love most about this work is how flexible it is.
Related: The Truth About “Flexible Work Arrangements”
Many sales jobs allow representatives to set their own hours. This helps students balance work and school, because they can scale up their hours over summers and breaks, and scale down during finals season.
➡️ The takeaway for success: When looking for sales roles, research whether the role can be remote. You may be surprised at how many positions are available for salespeople who want to control their schedule and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
6. Sales is a “backup plan” or lesser career
❌ The misconception: People who end up in sales are there because they have no other choice. They couldn’t find a better job, and their long-term career options are grim.
✅ The reality: There are many people who actively choose a career in sales, for a wide variety of very good reasons. Some folks enjoy the art of selling, or recognize that the perks we’ve mentioned so far in this article are worth any downsides.
Not everyone who goes into sales plans to stay there forever, either. Working in sales gives you a whole host of transferable skills that can help you succeed in other, non-sales-based roles. Often, a job in sales can lead to management positions sooner than other roles might, because sales representatives are so vital to a company’s success.
➡️ The takeaway for success: If you see sales as a “backup career,” it’s probably not for you. Instead, view it either as a new passion to explore or a stepping stone in your career path. That’s how you’ll get the most out of a career working in sales.
Further reading:
7. You have to sell products you don’t believe in
❌ The misconception: Salespeople are always hawking products they don’t trust or use themselves. To them, it doesn’t matter what the end-product is, as long as they make a commission.
✅ The reality: If you don’t believe in the product you are selling, you won’t last very long working in sales. Potential clients can easily detect when you don’t stand behind your products, and they simply won’t buy from someone whose heart isn’t in it.
For me, I’m selling a product I stand behind fully: my own coaching, editing, and writing services. Vector sales people get to use and test the products they sell, and across the board, both representatives and customers are satisfied with the quality of Cutco knives.
➡️ The takeaway for success: Authenticity is an essential tool for a successful sales person. That means you must be able to stand behind the product or service you’re selling. In fact, when looking for sales jobs, your first order of business should be researching the sales product to make sure it’s up to your standards.
Sales is all about closing techniques and scripts
❌ The misconception: Working in sales is dry and monotonous, because you have to use the same scripts and techniques all the time, day in and day out. It’s mind-numbing work.
✅ The reality: There are certainly proven sales techniques that work, but even these are only guidelines. Each person and company is unique, your sales tactics will need to be tailored to your target.
There may be some sales organizations that use scripts to train new employees or provide a guide for best practices, but even in these cases, it’s rare that a company will require sales reps to only say what’s in their script.
➡️ The takeaway for success: Working in sales requires you to be creative and think on your feet. It won’t be boring or tedious—it will be challenging and mentally stimulating.
You’ve made it to the end of this article, so hopefully you are now seeing the truth: A career in sales can be rewarding, flexible, exciting, and help you grow in the right direction for your larger career goals.
Ready to try your hand at a career in sales? Request an interview with Vector today.
