A Noble Profession

Have you ever considered how noble the sales profession is? 

That’s right, noble. All material prosperity, all technological progress, all economic stability and growth, are based on sales. Even those spheres of human activity that people think of as being apart from the business world, such as education and charitable endeavors, are dependent on either tax dollars or donations – both of which ultimately derive from sales. 

A colleague who is a successful sales professional recently shared with me that a relative of hers is an artist, and looks down on my friend for earning her living in sales. What would the person who sells that artist’s work do without the artist? The obvious answer: sell something else. But what would the artist do with no one to sell her work? She would have only two choices: starve, or become a seller of her own productions. We simply can’t have a functioning economic system without sales. 

Since the sales profession is so clearly the engine of all prosperity, why is that some denigrate our craft? Perhaps it is because some people have never gotten past the idea that sales is an inherently manipulative or even dishonest profession. But this need not – should not – be the case. The sales profession consists simply in presenting relevant information in an effective way to help people make good decisions about the use of their resources. 

The sales professional who understands and believes this is going to take pride in his craft. He will approach his customers with confidence and respect, and should anticipate receiving that same respect in return. Do your daily interactions with customers reflect the nobility and importance of our profession?

Just say “no”

“I don’t think our product is a good fit for your requirements.” 

“I’m calling to let you know that we won’t be responding to your RFP.” 

“It sounds like you have a lot on your plate right now; why don’t I follow up in a few months when this project is a higher priority for you?” 

If you can’t imagine ever saying things like this to one of your prospects, it may be time for a frank reassessment of your sales technique. Many sales professionals develop the habit early in their careers of chasing every possible crumb of potential business, and the habit is hard to break, especially when pipelines are thin. Well-intentioned sales managers often encourage this way of working because they never broke the habit themselves. 

The most successful sales professionals, on the other hand, know that disqualifying prospects quickly and moving on to other opportunities is one of those key habits that separate the upper echelon of the profession from the rest of the pack. Chasing deals that aren’t “real” only consumes precious time and energy, saps morale, and most dangerously, distracts one’s attention from more qualified sales engagements. It’s quite a challenge to become comfortable saying “No” in a profession in which we’re constantly told to say “Yes.” But the focus that comes with learning to say “no” may be just what you need to advance your sales career to a higher level of achievement.

How is your search going?

Looking for a job in this economy can be discouraging to say the least.  Your talents are needed somewhere and your challenge is to find where.  Be very careful how you spend your time and how you feed your mind.  Try a few of these today…

• write a specific objective for every job
• only spend 10% of your time applying for jobs online
• focus on quality not quantity
• be creative
• take a break

Feed yourself positive ONLY.  You can not afford to have negative conversations or watch the news everyday..neither will help you succeed.  Read positive, encouraging books and associate with optimistic people.

You know what they say, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  Say no to insanity…try something new today!