Action Steps

When I enthusiastically share with people that I love sales, they usually look at me like I have said that I love to eat raw slugs. (This cannot be further from the truth. I generally prefer my slugs sautéed in a Cabernet reduction.) I find it curious that many business people have confided with me that they absolutely HATE sales. Indeed, the reactions I have heard have varied from utter disgust to disinterested denial. Yet, having a clear sales process and good sales skills are absolutely essential to any business’s success! Read this article for the shocking truth about how to overcome loathing and achieve awesome sales skills painlessly.

Why do we hate sales? Let me answer this question with a question. What are some words you commonly associate with “salesman?” For me, the word salesman brings up the following: sleazy, annoying, inauthentic, manipulative, sneaky, ulterior motive, and “Go away!” In my mind, the archetype for the sales professional is the used car salesman. (I suppose I need to check in with the political correctness police people, here. I am using the word “salesman” instead of “salesperson” as it feels like the negativity I have internalized around sales has its roots in early childhood television images. Salespeople were almost entirely men and almost entirely sleazy and manipulative. Sorry, boys.)

I remember when I first started cold calling for Keyence Corporation (a Japanese sensor manufacturer.) I would be very apologetic, “I am a pesky salesperson calling to see if I could send you some literature about our new fiber-optic sensor with 12-bit resolution and one-micron repeatability?” It actually worked quite well as I got the electrical engineer on the other end of the line laughing and broke through the barrier of our roles. I wanted to be a person, not a role. I especially did not want to be in a manipulative role that caused repulsion. This was one of the most significant discoveries of my sales career: I can do sales and still be a [click to continue…]

Recipe for Creating Momentum

Momentum is an experience in life of effortless flow where results manifest easily and rapidly. Conflict and forced effort no longer trouble us. Momentum occurs when you know what you want, plan a course of action, and honor your agreements about that plan. Momentum is enabled when you let go of having to be right [...]

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Stuck: An Opportunity for Renewal

Every time I feel stuck, I resist the way a cat does a bath. But every single time I have come out the other side with a fresh and inspiring course change, and renewed passion. So I’m learning to embrace my “stuckness” and trust it is actually a necessary pause in a natural process of [...]

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Discovering Your Inner Business Plan

When I first started my coaching business over a decade ago, I was a dabbler. I taught a few workshops, joined a BNI (Business Networking International) chapter, and earned my Professional Certified Coach credential at The Centre for Coach Training. All very business-like things to do. But I was truly scattered and lacked confidence. I [...]

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Experiencing Success

I recently saw the movie Margin Call whose main characters are highly overpaid mucky-mucks in the financial industry. Something about the blatant and exaggerated consumerism and competitiveness of the characters in Margin Call really clarified my take on how we determine what success is. That is, how each of us defines success is shaped by [...]

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