Sales people change jobs. It's a given. We can look back nostalgically at our parents and grandparents, and think of a simpler time – a time when people worked for the same company for life. That world is gone. Today sales people change jobs every three to four years, and more often than not they are changing companies with each new job.

This is an interesting dynamic for sales people, and presents a real challenge for career management. When employees had the opportunity to work at a company for life, there was a well-defined career path. Now sales people have to plan and think through how each job will impact their career. We live in a world of choice, and this is wonderful freedom for people with a plan. For everyone else moving from one job to the next, each job can be a gamble. Will you move forward? Will you stay in the same place? Where will you be in five years? Either you can direct your career, or you will be at the mercy of employers and the job market.

Understanding the drivers that motivate change is critical. It helps you to understand how to manage each job and connect them together into a career. Since we are talking about sales careers, let's relate our jobs to a sales concept: 'the itch cycle'. One of my earliest lessons as a sales person was to identify the buying itch cycles my customers went through. This is the timeframe a customer goes through in between each purchase of your product or service. For example companies tend to replace their CRM software systems every three to four years, and they replace their ERP systems every five to seven years. Most sales people are trained to look for these itch cycles, but it's also interesting to note that sales people have internal itch cycles too.

Sales people tend to change jobs every three to four years. This is not a rule. Some people stay in a role for many, many years. For example in the insurance industry the longer a person builds their account base, the more money they will make. In this situation, the book of business is too valuable to give up to change careers. Yet in software, professional services or other transactional sales jobs, people are more apt to change. This change is important, because it forces the sales person to learn more and move to a higher income.

Let's look at this four year career itch cycle in more detail. As a sales person enters a new job, he knows the first year is a 'build' year. It's a time of immense learning and development. You have to learn the product, the industry, the value proposition and the stories that move a customer to action. Not only do you have to learn, but you have to build a funnel. That takes time too. Typically it takes nine months to build a full sales funnel. This make the first year costly. Depending on the value of an average sale and the length of sales cycle, the first year may only deliver 50% to 75% of the total potential income and revenues. There is a lot of inertia and complex tasks to overcome.

The second year is when a sales job is really fun. Your hard efforts pay off, and you get paid. In year two you fully understand how to sell your product, you have a full funnel and you can see the results of your efforts. The harder you work, the more money you make. This is a great year for a sales person. It feels good to pitch your product, and know that the customer is really buying into what you are selling them. That being said, year two is the climax of the job.

Years three and four are the dénouement – the story is coming to an end. Exceeding quota is a given. Not only do your efforts deliver sales, but you also benefit from the inertia generated in years one and two. Now customers are referring great prospects, your funnel is chocked full and you can pick and choose the accounts that will deliver you a quota busting year. So why are you starting to feel bored? Shouldn't these years be the most fun?

Success breeds complacency. When a top performer reaches his goals, he starts to look for the next challenge. For many people, their first inclination is to shake themselves out, put their priorities back in order and work a little harder. That may work for a little while, but the feeling that there is a better job out there eventually creeps back in. Everyone reacts to this boredom a little differently. Some people clash with management, others look for new distractions and some people find excitement outside of work. Whatever your derailer, be sure to know the signs and symptoms that signal it's time for change.

When people approach me in their job search I ask, "What is motivating this change?" The goal of this question is to understand what will be a positive step forward, and to help the sales person select the right job. What intrigues me though, is the similarity of people's responses. I hear motivators like money, no where else to go in the company, the industry is consolidating or there is a conflict with the boss. If you look at these reasons more closely, you can see the boredom and complacency trap is rearing its head. The sales person knows the job is coming to an end, and uses these drivers as ways to articulate why it is time to change.

There is nothing wrong with these motivators. They are all very valid. The key though is to look beyond the here and now, and consider four years out. You know that you are going to be looking for a new job in the next four years, so the questions to ask yourself when looking at the next job are, "Where will this job put me in four years? And what skills, competencies and experiences will it give me for the next job?"

You can no longer expect to work for the same company for life. Not even IBM or GE can make that promise to its employees. Career management must be owned by the individual. What do you want to be when you grow up? Ok, maybe you are grown up, so what do you want to have achieved ten years out? If you can define what your life is like in ten years and what you will accomplish, then you can look at how the next two to three jobs will get you there. It is a matter of connecting the dots, and continually using jobs to deliver experiences, expertise and income to satisfy your long term career ambitions. Don't just change jobs for change sake. Take the time to plan how each of your jobs fit into your larger career. This is the best route for you to achieve your long term goals.