Just so you know where I am coming from, I am a salesman and I've been a salesman for the last forty years and one of the things that has given me some concern over the years is, on the one hand, the sheer amount of books and seminars and information on the subject of selling, all of it promising riches beyond imagination ("the sky is the limit") and, on the other hand, the large number of salespeople (the overwhelming majority, actually) who barely eke out a living, despite this abundance of books and seminars and information.

So what is the problem?

The books and seminars fall into the usual distribution curve: twenty percent are excellent, twenty percent of them are abysmal and most of the rest lie somewhere in between, some of them very good even if they don't quite reach the "excellent" category. In other words, there is a lot of good stuff out there and salespeople can find the information they want if they really want it.

So why?

Why, with all this good information out there, are most salespeople floundering? Well, there are a number of possibilities but the two that spring immediately to mind are that the salespeople are not reading the books and they are not making the calls. Both of these surmises are unfortunately true.

But that is NOT the problem.

The underlying malaise in selling is that salespeople do not want to be salespeople and they will do it for only as long as they have to, having every intention of finding something more appropriate sooner or later, preferably sooner. Selling for most people is just a stop-gap measure, something to do while they hunt for something "better". In short, they have no pride in their sales work.

So, then, why bother with books and seminars and why work hard, if they are in it for only the short term? Why indeed?

Why, for that matter, should they even bother learning the sales spiel? No need to. They will find something better "soon".

You see, this is the problem. The image of selling is so bad that hardly anyone actually wants to be a salesperson. And if for some reason they have to be, then they usually disassociate from it. They don't study, they don't work hard, and consequently they don't make any money and that only reinforces their negative image of selling.

That is the problem: the image that people have of the profession. It's a killer. Kills the conversation quicker and deader than Mortein kills the flies.

"Hi, I'm Jake."

"I'm Ted. Nice to meet you."

"What do you do, Ted?"

"Oh, I'm a salesman." "Really? That's amazing. Well, I'll catch up with you later, Ted…"

End of conversation.

So salespeople are not salespeople anymore. They give themselves nice titles like consultants, agents, distributors and such.

Looking for salespeople? No problem. Just put, "no selling required", into your advertisement. Easy.

No one wants to be a salesperson. In short, selling has an image problem and salespeople have a self-image problem.

And I find that a little sad, because selling is one of the great professions of the world. It has been around probably since day one and societies, both Eastern and Western, both old and new, would probably not thrive without some sort of selling and promoting.

Milton is a lawyer. What does he do for a living? He sells. I mean…like…hard core selling…selling kitchen ware, cold calls, telephone appointments, the lot!

Why?

Because he can make more money, in less time and with less effort than he can in law. Every evening he heads out with his sales kit, and every evening he comes home with the money. No stress, no fuss. Of course he has honed his sales skills to a high level, but that is what you would expect in any profession. And he has not tied himself and his money up in running an office and staff, and he himself is not tied up weeks and months in advance with deferments, appeals, hearings and appointments. He can, if he wants to, fly out tomorrow to Morocco for a three month holiday. He has the money, he has the time. Milton is a free spirit. Not many professions offer that.

Oh. One other thing. Milton feels good about selling and being a salesman. He does not have an image problem. He does not need to hang a shingle up to feel good about himself.

OK. Let's get that straight: the foremost problem in the profession of selling is image, and specifically self-image. If you feel bad about what you are doing, you will not be motivated to do better at it. If you cannot say honestly and proudly, "I am a salesman", you never will be. That it the first hurdle: image. If you can get that sorted out you stand a chance of becoming a good, or even great, salesperson. You will read the books and no one will have to prompt you. You will work hard and no one will have to drive you... because you like it that way.

So that is the first and foremost thing: image. Get that right and everything else will fall in line; get it wrong and everything else will be out of sync.

ends