Sell or Be Sold(7)
Every person, no matter what his profession is, relies on selling. The politician wants to appeal to you and your interests so that you’ll vote for him in the polling booth. The public speaker is hoping to convince the audience that his approach is the right one. The employee desiring a promotion will have to sell the boss on his value to the company. The coach has to sell his team on the idea of winning the game. The real estate agent must convince you to buy a house or to give him the listing. The mortgage broker wants you to refinance for the third time. The banker wants you to invest money in the bank’s mutual funds. The waiter is selling the special of the day. The clothing salesperson wants you to buy the suit along with three shirts and two ties—and also wants you to apply for the department store’s credit card.
Selling never ends, and it includes everyone. Those who can sell, persuade, and close are the ones who survive the best, regardless of the line of work.
I’ll let you come to your own conclusions about why selling is neither respected as a profession nor taught in schools. Maybe it’s because there have been a handful of criminal salespeople over the years who have ruined the reputation for all. These are not salespeople; they’re crooks. But you’ll find criminals and con men in every field, including medicine, law, dentistry, teaching, politics, and certainly psychiatry.
I’ll tell you the fact of which I’m sure: No person will ever gain true power and stature in the world without the ability to persuade others. The ability to communicate and convince others is an asset for you; the inability to communicate is a liability. No matter what your ambitions are, you are required to communicate with others, and the better you can communicate, the more people will agree with you. The more you can get others to agree with you, the more you can have your way in life. The more you get your way in life, the more you will enjoy life.
CHAPTER TWO QUESTIONS
What are three freedoms that come from selling?
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What are four things that depend upon salespeople?
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In your own words, describe the importance of sales to the economy.
What does the author suggest is either an asset or a liability when it comes to selling, and how does this affect your life?
CHAPTER THREE
PROFESSIONAL OR AMATEUR?
THE PROFESSIONAL
Step into my world and let me unveil the secrets of the professional seller and how you can become one. Even if selling isn’t your career, you should be a professional seller in order to get more out of life. I tell attendees in my money seminar, “If you want to get rich, learn how to sell.” I became a professional at selling when I was twenty-six years old, after years of research and intense study on the subject. The hard work was well worth it, and the rest of my life changed as a result of my learning this little-understood life skill. Every business I have started, every dollar I have earned, and all the great things that have happened in my life are a result of learning this ability.
Three-quarters of the world’s population have no clue that the successes they will experience in their life and career depend solely on selling. If they don’t know how to sell, they will not be successful. While selling may not be your main occupation, hopefully by now you are convinced that selling is essential to your life. No dream can ever become a reality without successfully selling it to others.
Professional: A person who is engaged in a specified activity as his or her main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.
It’s been my experience that 99 percent of all “professional” salespeople have only a slight idea of what selling is, much less how to actually determine and predict results. What I’ve said is not meant to offend you in any way, but to inform you. If it does somehow offend you, then keep reading. Sometimes the truth is tough to hear, and this book will put you in control of your profession, put you in control of your customer, help you increase your income, and transform you into a true professional. Most real pros do not even call themselves salespeople; rather, they call themselves litigators, negotiators, moderators, business owners, inventors, politicians, coaches, fund-raisers, agents, actors, entrepreneurs, financial planners, and so on. Consider Benjamin Franklin, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Bill Gates, Martha Stewart—they are just a handful of the real pros of selling.
THE AMATEUR
Amateur: A person who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather than as a profession, or one lacking in experience and competence in an art or science.
I’ve met hundreds of thousands of salespeople over the past twenty-five years, most of whom were amateurs and did not know the first thing about selling. Is selling just a pastime to you, no different than watching television? Do you lack experience and competence in this field? Are you not clear about what you’re doing while negotiating? Do you struggle to get your way in life? Do you think there’s no way you could ever be a salesperson? Do you have disdain for this thing called selling? Do you hate rejection and even the idea of selling another? If any of these questions describe how you feel about selling, then we have some work to do.