Recently, I was having a wonderful conversation with my friend about life and work.  He was telling me about a time in the past when he had taken a job in which his friend told him, “you can make $7,500 a month!”  (Now, we’ve all been approached by this friend at one time or another.  And, like most, we take the bait at least once.  The job sounded easy enough and wow, what an income!)  So, my friend eagerly signed up.

He confessed,  “I lasted 4 weeks, and I just couldn’t do it.  The job seemed easy enough, but I couldn’t make a sale.”  The job required him to get on the phone and sell modifications.  It would seem with this economic climate, it would be an easy sell, “but I tanked!”  He went on to tell me about one woman in the office who used the full “fear tactic” to get the sale and she was good at it.  Another successful guy was super lax and would simply ask for their credit cards. It was like magic.  His routine would go something like this, “Yeah…I hear your home is in foreclosure…well then you need this modification…. what is your credit card number…” and viola! Sale!

My friend was a bit discouraged in himself.  He blamed his “failure” on the fact that he was way too detailed and got the potential clients confused in all the minutiae.  He figured he gave too many facts and scared the customer off.  He concluded by saying, “I’m just not a salesman.”

Because I’ve gotten to know my friend pretty well, and know how amazing he is in his “element”, I asked him, “Were you passionate about selling modifications?”  He paused, and gave a crooked half-smile, “no not really.”  I believe there is a ‘salesman’ in all of us.  We are constantly selling ourselves in one aspect or another all day long.  Whether it is in the quality of our daily tasks, the distribution of information, the winning of a debate, etc.  And when we are passionate about something at our core, we can sell absolutely anything!  Sure, some people are passionate about the act of selling itself, and make great salesmen.  Those are the people who give credit to the cliche, “Selling Ice to Eskimo’s.”  The key ingredient to being a wonderful salesman is to be passionate about your product.  You have to feel its benefits in your core.

For me,  when I talk about the powers of the mind and spirit and how effective they are in meditation to preserve peace of mind and lasting good health, I cannot stop myself!  I feel a wave of excitement and passion that I cannot fake or pull out of a hat.  I love telling people how and where to get it. My friend looked at me and his smile got bigger and bigger.  He knew exactly what I was talking about as he has been living in his passion for over a decade.  He has an amazing business teaching people about the music recording industry, and inspiring others to live in their passion!

Where are you a passionate salesman?

If you like this blog and want to read more feel free to sign up for our blog in the column to the right.