Hi

What comes to mind when you think of selling? Are you one of the few people who get excited about it, or, like the vast majority, you think it’s sleazy and the last thing you’d want to do?

Here’s the thing: your current income is the result of your selling activities. Consciously or otherwise, you are continuously selling. In the broad sense of the term, you don’t need to have a product or service in order to sell. And even if you do, someone’s decision to buy is highly influenced by the seller.

Why? Because before you can sell something else, people need to first buy into you. Your personality, charisma, manners, approach to work, even appearance. They all construct an image that a potential buyer (client, employer, collaborator) will want to invest in or not.

We are all sellers. Some have an innate ability to sell, others need a bit more practice, but there is no escape from it.

Some of the clients I work with shudder at the thought of having to sell their services. After we talk a little about it, I appear to change the topic of the conversation and ask them for a book recommendation on a particular topic that I know they are interested in.

I let them talk about the book, I ask for details and tell them they’ve convinced me to buy it. They are pleased to hear that and offer me a smile. I then ask them: “You just sold that book to me, was that so hard? Whether I buy it from you or not, is not the point. What we just had was a sales conversation.”

Silence. They never thought about it this way.

It’s all about perception. You can tell yourself that you’re not a good seller and act accordingly, or you can look for all the past experiences of successfully selling something as evidence of how good you are at it. The choice (and therefore the results) are yours.

What have you sold lately, ? Hit reply and let me know.

Alisa