Written for the Nova Scotia Business Journal
I started my first business in 1989, a small marketing and promotions company. I was pretty proud of myself –– I had a good and timely idea, did my research, I drew up a business plan, got financing, bought equipment, and set up an office. I was ready to roll. There was, however, something I hadn’t counted on. Where were my customers?
I understand now how incredibly naive I was, but I thought the phone would ring, simply because I had a great service to offer. I imagined that I had purchased a job and that people would come. I couldn’t have been more mistaken. The hard work was about to begin.
My expensive equipment sat untouched and the phone didn’t ring. It only took one looming loan payment to understand that I had to make it happen. I had to go out and sell my services to people who didn’t particularly want or understand what I was selling. The reality was that my little company was not going to be product driven, it was going to be sales driven. I had to sell.
Those first few months were a struggle. Picking up the phone, dropping into people’s offices, making new contacts were all new to me, and definitely weren’t comfortable for me. But I learned a lesson that I never forgot –– if no one is selling, companies close their doors and factories stop producing, it’s as simple as that. Salespeople are the lifeblood of our economy and my respect grew for these professionals who “made business happen”. I survived my first year in sales with adjusted expectations and goals.
A week rarely goes by that I don’t encounter a start-up company caught in the same misconception I had. They have a fantastic idea, they commercialize it so it’s ready to sell, but they are completely uncomfortable being the one to sell it. And, they can’t afford to hire someone else to do it for them. The truth is, no one else will have the passion and knowledge that an entrepreneur has for their product or service. This doesn’t mean they won’t need to develop proven selling techniques, a positive attitude about selling, and productive behaviours that make the sale happen.
I’ve changed the axiom to: If you do what successful sellers do, you will be successful selling.
©2013 Sandler Training Inc. (www.atlantic.sandler.com) is an international sales and management training/consulting firm. To attend a free session of its weekly on-line Customer Service program, call Sandler Training at (902) 468-0787 or e-mail salescareers@sandler.com
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