I heard the words come out of my mouth for the umpteenth time…”I don’t really like to actually sell my services”. Then the voice in my head says, “well you should of thought about that before you went into business for yourself”.
You can go into your own business and hire a sales person to sell for you, but most small business owners start out by themselves or with employees to help with the actual creation of products and services.
Usually the owner of the business is the first sales person.
It is one thing to not like selling and another thing all together to NOT sell.
The statistics of 9 out of 10 businesses failing in the first year are not all because the owner didn’t want to sell…..but think about it, maybe it was one of the underlying reasons.
If you started your own business like I did, sorry you have to sell.
How You Sell Is Up To You
How you sell is a different story. You can find a strategy that is most comfortable to your personality, but you need to find one.
I imagine Jesus used the demonstration strategy quite often. He would go and show His miracles to people free of charge. They would be so amazed at His abilities that they became believers, raving fans, and followers!
He was up against a target market who didn’t even know that they needed what He was selling. Showing changed lives and became a huge marketing tool for Him.
Please don’t take this as me trying to minimize the impact that Christ had on this world. Believe me I’m not. I just know that even over thousands of years people haven’t changed.
We need to be convinced before we buy in. We need to trust who is selling. We need to hear the message over and over again.
Many of us say we don’t like to sell like it isn’t a normal part of business. Like it is dirty. But it isn’t. Selling in some form has been around forever.
Build It and They Will Come Doesn’t Work
To think we will “build it and they will come” is naive at best, arrogant at worst, and unlikely either way.
I may not call it sales, but when I went to small groups and helped people learn and grow I was demonstrating my ability to do this as a counselor and a coach.
When I write these blog posts and send them out through social media, I am trying to show the Christian business world that I know something about business and I believe that even in business our faith comes first.
Sharing Your Experience and Knowledge Is Selling
As I share with people how I can help them, I am simultaneously selling my services.
“I don’t like to sell” is not really a true statement.
I don’t like to position myself in a used car salesman manner, sounding desperate, as I over-promise and under deliver. No, I don’t like to sell that way.
I also don’t like to walk in on busy business owners trying to figure out how to sell their own products, and take up their unplanned time allowing me to sell mine.
But I love sharing my experience and education with others. I want to help them to grow their business, so I am very comfortable discussing how I can help them to do that if I can.
There is an intersection between “like” and “selling” in my world. I am sure there is in yours too…..can you find that crossroad?
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