I am taking a road trip from Columbus, Ohio to Madison, Wisconsin. It is a 9 hour drive from Columbus to Madison, and I stopped for the night at some good friends' house in Champaign, Illinois.
The Art of the Sale
I have been listening to The Art of the Sale, a new book by Philip Delves Broughton. I have been a big Broughton fan since reading his book Ahead of the Curve,
in which he describes his experience earning an MBA in the Harvard
Business School. (I've actually read Ahead of the Curve several times - it is
very insightful and entertaining and I highly recommend it.) In The Art of the Sale, Broughton
shares
great stories, addresses academic literature, and sums his findings up
in clear, often humorous ways.
According to Broughton, some assert that there are two essentials to being a great
salesperson: (1) the ability to empathize, and (2) a strong, unflappable
ego. This crucial combination allows the salesperson to understand the
potential client - background, desires, needs, and feelings - while at
the same time possessing a great deal of confidence in the ability to to
provide something useful. This ego also provides a healthy dose of
resilience in the face of rejection, which is likely a big part of the
life of the salesman.
I would probably rate myself
fairly high in the empathize category and somewhere around average in
the ego category. I am certainly not a salesman by title, but as in most
every profession, I find that I must sell a great deal to the people
around me. For me, a vital key to maintaining confidence amid the
difficulties of selling is a firm belief in the product I am selling. I
am currently the interim program chair for the MS Degree in Instructional Design and Performance Technology
at Franklin University. Part of my duty is to promote the program to
potential students, and if I didn't have a strong belief in the product
of education in general and the degree specifically, I would not do too
well at promoting the program. Luckily, I do believe in the "product" of
education - I believe it raises sights and expands human potential in a
way that many other things cannot.
Broughton also
notes that the way a person interprets failures is vital. Is my failure
due to my internal shortcomings, or simply due to external
circumstances? Does a single instance of failure become interpreted as
evidence of my global incompetence, or was it just specific instance of
failure in a life of overall success? I have personally found that successfully enduring difficult experiences in life
and having succeeded at other rewarding pursuits has given me a positive
perspective on my own abilities as an individual, and those experiences
serve as a foundation for moving forward with confidence in the face of
difficulty. I try to think about negative, or difficult experiences as
formative (something I can use to improve myself) instead of summative
(like a final "grade" or statement of value that is assigned to me by
someone else). As a friend and coach once said, "There is no failure,
only feedback."
I have listened to the first half of the book and will continue to listen as I move forward on my trip.
1 comment:
Some profound observations about how to be a good "salesman." It makes me think about the difference between being a "salesman," who can make sales, and a "professional salesman," who makes sales using a "win-win" rather than a "win-lose" approach. I certainly wish I had more confidence in my ability to sell my ideas.
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