Remember the last time you sold something? You'd be surprised.
When was the last time you sold anything? “Well”, you might think: “I’ve never sold a single thing in my life” or “I’ve never been in sales before”. The word ‘selling’, nowadays, carries a hint of desperation. We think of telemarketers and about how much we hate them. We think of the person following you in the store trying to get you to buy things you don’t want. We anchor so many negative connotations to the word that we try to escape it in our everyday lives. So many people view ‘sales’ as something that’s ‘beneath’ them. It is a word most of us don’t want to be associated with. ‘Success’, on the other hand, is something we all want to be associated with. The irony is: being good at one gets you the other.
Think of the College you wanted to go to because of their reputation. Attending that college would almost guarantee a job right after graduation. If you didn’t get into the program, you thought, you’d be a failure the rest of your life. So, you sat down and wrote your letter of intent.
Think of the sports team you wanted to be a part of. To be part of that team meant that you were one of the best. So, you spent countless hours practicing and training so that when tryouts came around, you’d shine.
Think of that time you were going to a bar/club/lounge to try to meet an attractive person to take home. If you’re a guy, you spent some time grooming your beard (or shaving), putting gel on your hair, brushing your teeth, spraying cologne, picking the right shirt to wear. And, if you’re a girl, you spent some time in front of the mirror, applying makeup, fixing your hair, deciding on the best dress to wear.
If all of the above are instances you’ve already forgotten, think of the last time you tried to get your kid to eat their veggies. How you appealed to the health benefits of vegetables; how you sliced the carrots really small so they wouldn’t notice.
How about your last interview? Salary negotiation? Performance evaluation? We can keep going for days! But, the point should be clear by now. We ‘sell’. Everyday. And we do it for different reasons. But the underlying force has always been success. We strive to be successful in everything we do. But on every path to success, you’ll find people. More specifically, two types of people: those who will help you and those who will just stand in the way. Our chances of reaching our goals depend on how well we communicate with those people. Selling allows you to move those who are in the way and encourage others to help you. Once you get to where you want to be and look back, you’ll realise you wouldn’t have been able to do it without the ability to sell. So, we’ll ask again: When was the last time you sold anything?
