Has everything changed or has nothing changed? Students’ perception on sales professionals after the storm

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The sales stereotype has been studied since the beginning of the last century; in particular, the perceptions held by university students are relevant, because they may be reluctant to consider a career in sales due to common misconceptions about the profession. This is even more relevant as the role of the salesperson has evolved over the years, and companies are interested in hiring this profile from HEI. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the change in sales, and new skills, activities and paradigms are challenging the profession. OBJECTIVE: Aiming to address a potential gap in sales education, this paper examines the perceptions of salespeople among university students, and students’ orientation toward sales careers in a changing sales environment. METHOD: Focus group methodology using a special technique of animal metaphors was used to examine how the most noticeable characteristics of animals are mapped onto salespeople. RESULTS: The pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods seems to confirm the persistence of the overall students’ perceptions of the salesperson but at the same time new competences and skills emerge for a new generation of salespersons. CONCLUSIONS: These findings update and enrich the existing literature with a new work on sales stereotypes that sheds light on students’ perceptions of salespeople after the pandemic.