Be honest, you’ve pretty much just been reactive up to this point in your sales career.
You chose that first sales job because they were the first ones to offer you a job.
You chose your next sales job because:
They offered you more money
They offered you a promotion
You were let go and needed paycheck ASAP
You left a sinking ship for the first lifeboat you saw
This is pretty common, and there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with it BUT, it’s not ideal.
When you’re being reactive in your career, you can end up in situations that don’t suit you.
Situations that don’t set you up to happily succeed.
Taking a proactive approach to your sales career requires you to define EXACTLY what you need to be happy and successful in a job, and then map those attributes to:
funding type (VC, PE, Public, Bootstrapped)
company size (Small, Mid, Large)
segment (B2C, SMB, MM, ENT, Strat)
buyer persona (Sales, Marketing, Accounting/Finance, Legal, HR, IT/Security)
role (xDR, ISR, AE, CSM/AM, Retention/Renewals, Frontline MGR, Middle MGR, Sales Exec)
There are incredible nuances to each of the variables above that affect selling environment.
Research them!
Research yourself and what you need!
Define what’s best for you, and get proactive in finding it!