16 min
The most important skill for your progression in a career or as an entrepreneur. 3T
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- Self-Improvement
Throughout my own journey as an entrepreneur, a student, a friend and a high achiever in a variety off career settings; I have come to understand that to be successful in any arena, you must master the art of selling.
To Sell is Human- Daniel H. Pink is the perfect book to better understand the true definition of sales, once it has been separated from the dirty stereotypes of used car sales and constant telesales. Sales is about communication, empathy, understanding an individual’s needs, desires and how to motivate them. You could be selling a bedtime to your child, you could be selling a new home renovation idea to your partner or you could be convincing a co-founder to move the business in a new direction. All of these instances require a similar set of skills and abilities to attain a successful outcome.
We often consider sales to be associated with a single part of a business, this fails us considerably as we then end up believing that the sales department is responsible for convincing our customers about the quality of our product/service. Whereas, when you think of the best and most successful businesses in the World such as Apple; it’s crazy to think how much selling the customers of the brand and the fans who love the organisation do. How many times have you heard a sales call from Apple? On the other hand, it’s usually the customers who end up selling Apple’s value to their friends and family.
As an entrepreneur, your sales ability will determine your ability to convince investors to give you money, to attract high value talent and to ensure that your team is inspired to achieve your mission. Moreover, it becomes a key part of selling yourself, as much as people may believe in your product or vision, they will never align with you unless they believe in you. This requires you to sell yourself; your talents, your flaws and your story. You must understand how to be authentic, honest and express your humanity to ensure people understand what you are about and who you are
Throughout my own journey as an entrepreneur, a student, a friend and a high achiever in a variety off career settings; I have come to understand that to be successful in any arena, you must master the art of selling.
To Sell is Human- Daniel H. Pink is the perfect book to better understand the true definition of sales, once it has been separated from the dirty stereotypes of used car sales and constant telesales. Sales is about communication, empathy, understanding an individual’s needs, desires and how to motivate them. You could be selling a bedtime to your child, you could be selling a new home renovation idea to your partner or you could be convincing a co-founder to move the business in a new direction. All of these instances require a similar set of skills and abilities to attain a successful outcome.
We often consider sales to be associated with a single part of a business, this fails us considerably as we then end up believing that the sales department is responsible for convincing our customers about the quality of our product/service. Whereas, when you think of the best and most successful businesses in the World such as Apple; it’s crazy to think how much selling the customers of the brand and the fans who love the organisation do. How many times have you heard a sales call from Apple? On the other hand, it’s usually the customers who end up selling Apple’s value to their friends and family.
As an entrepreneur, your sales ability will determine your ability to convince investors to give you money, to attract high value talent and to ensure that your team is inspired to achieve your mission. Moreover, it becomes a key part of selling yourself, as much as people may believe in your product or vision, they will never align with you unless they believe in you. This requires you to sell yourself; your talents, your flaws and your story. You must understand how to be authentic, honest and express your humanity to ensure people understand what you are about and who you are
16 min