Be Proud to Say You Are Trying to Sell

By Aaron S. Robertson

As you may know by now, I'm trying my hand at selling cars, having recently taken a sales position in pre-owned vehicles at a large dealership in the Milwaukee area.

Yesterday, I was having a great conversation with one of our sales managers. He is one of the gentlemen I interviewed with for the job and who had a major say in the decision to hire me. At age 62, he has been in the business of selling cars for most of his working life. One of the most friendly, honest, and down-to-earth people I have ever met, you can tell right away in your first encounter with him that he genuinely loves what he does.

Anyways, he was sharing some of his rich insights with me about effective strategies for dealing with prospects over the phone - telemarketing, if you will. He said he couldn't believe the number of salespeople (no matter what industry they're in) who try to dodge the question posed by the recipient of the phone call, "Are you trying to sell me something?" Too many salespeople, he said, seem too afraid to just come right out with it and say "Yes." At the same time, he also said he couldn't believe the number of people out there who give salespeople (again, no matter what industry they're in) a hard time for what they do.

He taught me never to be afraid nor ashamed to simply say "Yes, I am trying to sell you something." He went on to point out that every single person who has a job, no matter what they do, has that job because the business they work for, whether it's a small business or a large corporation, and whether it offers products/services directly to consumers or to other businesses, has salespeople.

Salespeople are the sole reason why other workers, no matter what they do, are able to earn a living. The guy working in the factory has his job because, somewhere in the process, there's another employee who is working to make sales and secure deals for the product that is being manufactured in the factory.

And if we look at it in those terms, it's pretty difficult to disagree with the statement that we need salespeople - and they need us. It's a two-way street.

Powerful food for thought.