A client asked me to evaluate a candidate for a job in print sales. I’ve had conversations like this many times over the years. I ask typical questions and get typical answers. Ordinarily, I find expectations to be a long way from reality. Ask any legacy sales rep and they will say some version of, “If I’d known how difficult it was going to be to become successful, I might not have chosen the profession!” So imagine my surprise when I asked the question, “What are your goals?” and heard the answer, “I want to build a career in sales.”
Boom! Mic drop!
The conversation got me thinking about what it takes to stick around for decades in this crazy, challenging, rewarding, frustrating career. I started in sales in the prehistoric era: time before AI, internet, cell phones, fax machines, caller ID, and voicemail (pause for effect). Forty-three years have passed. There have been countless evolutions and revolutions. The industry has been declared dead multiple times, and yet here we are.
Looking ahead, the keys to this young candidate’s success are not unlike taking a look back to see what it took for someone starting in 1982 to still be standing in 2025:
Read the full feature on Printing Impressions.
