5 lessons everyone should learn from sales
(MoneyWatch) Before I was a strategy consultant, before I was a senior executive and after I was an engineer, guess what I did for a living? Nope, I've never been a stand-up comedian (Why, got a venue you need filled?) Actually, I was a salesman. No, not the used car kind. I sold high-tech stuff like semiconductor chips and software.
I'm not exaggerating when I say it was one of the best jobs I've ever had. Lots of perks, plenty of freedom, good relationships and the pay was pretty good, too. Why did I stop doing it? Well, I'm not sure I ever really did. I just incorporated those skills into my climb up the corporate ladder.
That's probably the best selling point for getting into sales. Whether you aim to be a top executive, an entrepreneur or just about anything, selling is a critical skill set. It'll teach you how to pitch, negotiate and schmooze. You'll learn how to sell your projects, your ideas and yourself. And you'll learn the basics of business and finance.
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Learning how to sell won't just improve your career. It'll make it easier for you to do all sorts of things you have to do in life, like buying and selling stuff, getting help from customer service people, dealing with insurance companies, negotiating with your spouse and kids, and most importantly, personal finance.
Getting into sales was definitely right up there in the top five decisions I've ever made in my life. That's why I think that every manager, executive and entrepreneur should carry a bag once in his career. Here are five lessons that everyone should learn from sales.
Shut up and listen. Nothing you've read or learned is nearly as important as what the person across from you is about to say -- if you just shut up and listen. Besides, when you speak first, you're giving away information and potentially committing yourself to a position. Always listen, learn and then speak.
Problems create opportunities. The most important opportunities to make a difference are always when things go wrong. How you respond in times of crisis, when somebody -- a customer -- needs you, is a window into your true capability. And that spells opportunity if you rise to the occasion and deliver results.
Business is all about relationships. These days it's popular to demonize corporations. That's ridiculous. Companies are all run by people, and business is all about relationships between them. Organizations and teams are groups of people that interact and operate to accomplish shared goals. There's no such thing as a self-sustaining business.
Your customer always does come first. Customers aren't just the people at the end of a business transaction. You have way more customers than you think. Call it business karma, but whatever you have going on, whatever you expect to accomplish on any given day, when someone, anyone comes to you with a problem, that's a customer. Help her first.
Understand the decision maker's motives. Whether you're trying to sell a product, promote an idea or accomplish pretty much anything in the business world, there will always be a decision maker. Once you identify him, understand what motivates him, what's in it for him. That's the key to getting anything done.
One more thing. The toughest thing about selling is that everything happens in real time. The beautiful thing about that is you learn under fire, and that naturally accelerates the learning process. There truly is no better way to learn how business really works.
Image from Flickr user Alaskan Dude