I’ve been getting a variety of people telling their stories on, “Why I Am So Interested In Selling.” They are fascinating and compelling. I have dozens and will continue publishing them over the coming weeks. But I decided to do an experiment, I asked ChatGPT to put herself in the role of a seller, answering the question (I actually created several scenarios–a seller, a high performing seller, a manager. The answers weren’t too different).
The response from ChatGPT was pretty much what I expected. What was fascinating was the sharp contrast with the dozens of responses from outstanding sales practitioners I’ve been sharing.
Let me share the key prompt and ChatGPT’s response.
- Financial Incentives and Compensation (40%):
- Explanation: Sales roles are often associated with attractive compensation packages, including competitive base salaries, commission, bonuses, and other performance-related incentives. This potential for high earnings is a significant draw for many individuals, as it directly rewards them for their efforts and successes. The direct correlation between effort, skill, and financial reward is a powerful motivator.
- Relative Importance: This is typically the most cited reason for entering into and staying in sales roles. The opportunity to significantly impact one’s own earnings based on performance makes it a top priority for many.
- Personal Growth and Challenge (30%):
- Explanation: Sales roles provide individuals with constant challenges and opportunities for personal and professional growth. Salespeople often enjoy the process of mastering sales techniques, learning about new products and markets, and developing strategies to overcome obstacles. The role requires continuous learning, adaptability, and resilience, which can be personally fulfilling and professionally rewarding.
- Relative Importance: While financial incentives might draw individuals into sales, the challenges and growth opportunities keep them engaged and motivated over the long term. This aspect is crucial but generally considered secondary to the immediate financial rewards.
- Relationship Building and Networking (30%):
- Explanation: Selling involves building and maintaining relationships with clients and customers. Many sales professionals find satisfaction in creating meaningful connections, understanding customer needs, and providing solutions that help others achieve their goals. This aspect of sales appeals to individuals who are inherently social and enjoy interacting with a variety of people. It also provides opportunities for networking and developing professional relationships that can be beneficial throughout their careers.
- Relative Importance: The importance of relationship building can be on par with personal growth for many sales professionals. It’s a key component of sales that can lead to job satisfaction, repeat business, and referrals, all of which contribute to a salesperson’s success. However, its weight might be slightly less than financial incentives for most individuals entering the field, as it often contributes to long-term rather than immediate success.
These percentages are indicative and can vary significantly among individuals. The weighting of these factors often depends on personal values, career stage, and the specific industry or product being sold. For some, the thrill of closing a deal or the autonomy associated with sales roles might be additional factors of considerable importance.
So what do you think?
As we might expect, the responses from ChatGPT are relatively ho-hum, they don’t convey the underlying energy and emotion of the dozens of other stories from real people.
In the stories these high performing people provided, comp and earning potential wasn’t really discussed as a key driver around to why they were so interested in selling. In fact, the majority of the responses never mentioned the financial rewards. The one or two times it was mentioned lightly, was more as a tertiary benefit. The context was, “I was thrilled by working in selling for these reasons, and as a result of excelling in those areas, I earned a great living…..”
I know ChatGPT can’t convey emotion very well, in a very sterile manner, it added, after comp…….
It fails to capture the excitement and challenge of doing something that is very challenging and constantly changing. It failed to capture the resilience critical to picking oneself up and continuing to learn, grow, achieve.
It focused on the “social engagement,” but not the drive and satisfaction that comes from creating value with customers, helping them grow and succeed in their roles and their businesses.
Regardless of how much prompting I did, how many “hints” I provided in the prompts, ChatGPT failed to capture what so many are saying about what drives them to sell, what keeps them learning, growing, moving forward in one of the most challenging but exciting professions I know.
Maybe I need to have a conversation with Gemini or Bard, they might have differing views, though I suspect not.
