Sales and Passion
How many of you have ever heard or said yourself, "I'm not into sales. I'm just not a salesman."?
Well let me break it to you--everyday of your life you are selling something! If you're a parent you may have to sell your kids on why they should eat breakfast before rushing out the door in the morning, or why they should tidy up their room and pick up their toys today. If you are dating you had to "sell" yourself with perfume, cologne, makeup, an impressive resume etc. (it's called marketing people!) in order to sell the idea of being date-worthy and eventually marriage-worthy. If you've ever applied for a job you had to sell the Office Manager on why you'd be an excellent addition to their team. Many of you have dined at a fine restaurant and enjoyed your meal so much you told others about the experience. Or perhaps you saw the latest flick at the local "theater near you" and told your friends it was a "must see." You don't consider it selling because it is our natural tendency to share and tell people why we think a certain restaurant, movie, clothing store, shampoo, fill-in-the-blank, would benefit them.
Folks, you've engaged in the act of selling your whole life... plain and simple. And do you know what makes "selling" easier? Having a passion for what it is you're talking about! Simply put, we share things we have a passion for and enthusiasm is the great equalizer. And it's easy to be enthusiastic for things you have a passion for whether it's real estate, shoes, art, skiing etc.
Can you find passion if you're already doing something and it's just not there? Perhaps... and perhaps you may not be looking in the right place. You may not be passionate about selling insurance products but you could be passionate about what that policy could do for a potential family in need when the sole breadwinner in the family passes away. But to be honest, I wouldn't recommend working in an industry where you lack passion unless it is clearly understood that this is merely a stepping stone to achieving that which you desire most. Forcing yourself to do something you're not passionate about is a recipe for heartache and disaster. Does the ditch digger need to love digging ditches? No. But perhaps digging ditches helps him save up enough money to start the pizza store he's always wanted to start with his grandmother's secret sauce recipe. Like I said, what you're doing now could be a stepping stone to igniting the true passion within.
So what happens when passion is missing? Well, why do so many folks get so stressed out when the word "sales" pops up? Why do people stress when they are presented with the task of "selling" something? Because they don't feel like they truly have something of value to give, i.e. no passion to share. According to Merriam Webster Online, to sell something is "To give up (property) to another for something of value (money)." If you don't feel like you truly have something of worth at least equal to or of greater value than what you are trading for, you won't make the "Sales Leap" as I call it. Your heart just won't be in the sale and you won't have success in selling because you don't believe in what you're doing and people will be able to read it all over you... trust me!
Back to our movie example, if you saw a movie that moved you and stirred your soul you'd be excited about sharing the experience with others and you'd encourage them to see it so that they could experience the same depth of emotion that you did during the viewing. You're not "afraid" to share the movie experience with a friend because you enjoyed the movie and you feel like you have something to offer and value to give. As far as our definition, the "giving up" would be sharing the information about why the movie was worth watching and the "value" you receive is the satisfaction of knowing that you were able to transfer some of that excitement to your friend and if they actually go see the movie they might come back to you and share their enjoyable experience; an experience they only had because of YOU! (their's an ego boost for you!)
To sum it all up, realize you're a salesperson every day of your life. Like Captain Barbossa told Elizabeth aboard The Black Pearl in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, "You best start believing in ghost stories Miss Turner, you're in one!" And folks you're in a sales journey from the moment you enter this world and bat those baby blues at your doting parents. Just remember to embrace it and if you feel that all too familiar twinge of "sales phobia," seek out the passion in what you're doing and those aches will be a thing of the past! Give it a try! You just might succeed!
Well let me break it to you--everyday of your life you are selling something! If you're a parent you may have to sell your kids on why they should eat breakfast before rushing out the door in the morning, or why they should tidy up their room and pick up their toys today. If you are dating you had to "sell" yourself with perfume, cologne, makeup, an impressive resume etc. (it's called marketing people!) in order to sell the idea of being date-worthy and eventually marriage-worthy. If you've ever applied for a job you had to sell the Office Manager on why you'd be an excellent addition to their team. Many of you have dined at a fine restaurant and enjoyed your meal so much you told others about the experience. Or perhaps you saw the latest flick at the local "theater near you" and told your friends it was a "must see." You don't consider it selling because it is our natural tendency to share and tell people why we think a certain restaurant, movie, clothing store, shampoo, fill-in-the-blank, would benefit them.
Folks, you've engaged in the act of selling your whole life... plain and simple. And do you know what makes "selling" easier? Having a passion for what it is you're talking about! Simply put, we share things we have a passion for and enthusiasm is the great equalizer. And it's easy to be enthusiastic for things you have a passion for whether it's real estate, shoes, art, skiing etc.
Can you find passion if you're already doing something and it's just not there? Perhaps... and perhaps you may not be looking in the right place. You may not be passionate about selling insurance products but you could be passionate about what that policy could do for a potential family in need when the sole breadwinner in the family passes away. But to be honest, I wouldn't recommend working in an industry where you lack passion unless it is clearly understood that this is merely a stepping stone to achieving that which you desire most. Forcing yourself to do something you're not passionate about is a recipe for heartache and disaster. Does the ditch digger need to love digging ditches? No. But perhaps digging ditches helps him save up enough money to start the pizza store he's always wanted to start with his grandmother's secret sauce recipe. Like I said, what you're doing now could be a stepping stone to igniting the true passion within.
So what happens when passion is missing? Well, why do so many folks get so stressed out when the word "sales" pops up? Why do people stress when they are presented with the task of "selling" something? Because they don't feel like they truly have something of value to give, i.e. no passion to share. According to Merriam Webster Online, to sell something is "To give up (property) to another for something of value (money)." If you don't feel like you truly have something of worth at least equal to or of greater value than what you are trading for, you won't make the "Sales Leap" as I call it. Your heart just won't be in the sale and you won't have success in selling because you don't believe in what you're doing and people will be able to read it all over you... trust me!
Back to our movie example, if you saw a movie that moved you and stirred your soul you'd be excited about sharing the experience with others and you'd encourage them to see it so that they could experience the same depth of emotion that you did during the viewing. You're not "afraid" to share the movie experience with a friend because you enjoyed the movie and you feel like you have something to offer and value to give. As far as our definition, the "giving up" would be sharing the information about why the movie was worth watching and the "value" you receive is the satisfaction of knowing that you were able to transfer some of that excitement to your friend and if they actually go see the movie they might come back to you and share their enjoyable experience; an experience they only had because of YOU! (their's an ego boost for you!)
To sum it all up, realize you're a salesperson every day of your life. Like Captain Barbossa told Elizabeth aboard The Black Pearl in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, "You best start believing in ghost stories Miss Turner, you're in one!" And folks you're in a sales journey from the moment you enter this world and bat those baby blues at your doting parents. Just remember to embrace it and if you feel that all too familiar twinge of "sales phobia," seek out the passion in what you're doing and those aches will be a thing of the past! Give it a try! You just might succeed!
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