What does "Sales" mean to you?

I decided to do something different here on LinkedIn in response to a ton of messages I got recently.

No, I am not referring to those insta-pitch monologues from new connections who tell me that I need what they are selling.

I am talking about everyone who wished me a happy birthday.

I got nice messages from close connections and friends, and a bunch from people I am connected with but don’t really know or haven’t really interacted with.

I appreciate the social-media-birthday-notification-and-message-tradition. I think its kind of fun and since it pops up for your connections, it usually yields some “we haven’t spoken in a long while” type conversations. This algorithm busting notification on LinkedIn is great for generating interesting chats.

A New Tradition Begins...

So this year, I saw a message from someone about sales in general, and decided to create a message I would ask nearly each person (after thanking them for the well wishes).

At first, I didn’t expect many people to answer because it might have been an Automated ??Happy Birthday message, or the Click-Here-To-Send-Canned-Message that didn’t totally mean a lot to them. I get it, I have done both of those.

But I sent lots of messages, and actually got a lot of replies – some expected and some fun ones.

Here is the question I posed:

“As a bday gift, I am asking everyone who sent me birthday wishes to share what you think of when you hear the word “Sales”.”

I didn’t offer more information or context than what you read there. I wanted to leave it up to each person to share their instant thoughts and not steer them towards what I wanted to hear.

Then the answers started flooding in...

Here are the responses I got (in no particular order):

• Problem Solving
• Helpful
• Connection
• Opportunity to meet new friends
• $$$
• Relationship Building
• Products/Services, MindSet, Opportunities, Success
• Hard Work
• Opportunities (3x)
• Marketing
• Gets us to interact with a lot of people. Teaches us to understand the people. You find a lot of pleasure doing sales, sometimes it gives you pain as well.
• Product segmentation
• Pressure to buy
• I get to keep my job for another month!
• Cost
• "Opportunities" for all parties involved
• Relationships (4x)
• Sales is life! (2x)
• I think of all those who have brands to put out there
• Revenue (3x)
• Service
• Pressure
• Everyone is in biz of selling
• Profit...income...good news...you just helped someone reach their goal
• Orders!
• Stress (accountability) of having to sell out goods/services/technology/idea/what-not, with no escape because of its number-game!!
• Adds value
• Providing solutions
• Always be pitching
• Pushy And then I get defensive and brace myself for the onslaught. I would like to think of sales as relationship building and providing value to customers for their needs.
• Win/Win
• Mutually beneficial partnership
• A service to help the buyer come to a decision that is in their own interest in some way or form.
• Monthly targets or skyrocketing
• I don’t feel one way or another other than a business necessity. But if you alter it to say salesman or saleswoman...then I conjure up images of a used car salesperson.
• Sales= Moving or selling a productor service, at a fair price!
• "Sales" is an opportunity to solve a problem for someone
• Business and marketing. The act that makes business possible and profits attainable
• A skill
• Make a purchase as you simultaneously receive outstanding service
• Value
• Personally I love it because that's what has fed my family and assisted me in creating my new business. To SO many people though it is a dirty word. 
• Business
• Customers
• Money
• Great discovery leading to a process that is mutually beneficial
• Accepting a connection request is not meant for a sales pitch
• I think of my dad always telling me that nothing happens without a sale! :)
• It's something that surrounds us everywhere we go, and impacts all decisions we make.
• Sales is the promotion of any idea or concept and getting you to choose that
• Hard work, dedication and determination
• Earlier the word meant something new or something exciting but now the connotation has changed to that someone will try to push something which may or may not be needed
• I think numbers, selling and a very challenging task! :)
• Usually cold sales and not personalized
• Life is filled with sales. If you decide you need or want to share your ideas or items with another person you are using the skills of negotiation.
• I always like to start with a good understanding of where my customers are and where they would like to be.
• Sales, when done well, is the process of affecting a desired outcome in others, often to effect change in someone's thinking, and therefore decisions or actions.

As you can see, this list covers a wide variety of responses. There are the positive (service, relationships, problem-solving) answers and the negative ones.

At first, when I compiled this list, I was surprised how many people put a positive light on the word or act of sales. Then I thought about it more, and it makes sense. This was a random, informal polling of people on LinkedIn – where we all (theoretically) go for business-related content and connections.

Also, the type of person who responded is more active on #LinkedIn…and…more likely to be the ones trying to sell to others. So of course, they will see sales as a great thing.

Unfortunately, I feel that the negative view towards sales that showed up a few times in responses is actually more widespread in the general population.

What do I want you to take away from this?

If you are in the group that doesn’t like dealing with salespeople – then let your money do the talking. If you encounter a salesperson who you don’t feel is listening to you, doesn’t care about you, is treating you in a way that triggers you to think they only see you as a path to their commission/sale – don’t buy from them. Move on to find another sales professional you can deal with, someone who uses Authentic Persuasion to be of service to you through the act of helping you buy. Rarely is there only one option, one salesperson, one company to deal with for a given product or service.

If we can get people to stop buying from the manipulative, pushy salesperson, their strategies will die out.

Now, if you are in the group that is in sales, worried about how to perform at a high level without being the type of salesperson I just referenced, then there is hope. The great thing about this era we live in is that there are unlimited resources available, instant content on-demand, coaches and mentors available to help – anything that you need to help sell in a different way.

The challenge is that it will come down to you and the time, energy, and effort you are willing to put into your career. Becoming a sales professional isn’t easy. Becoming a professional anything isn’t easy. But long-term it is worth it. And, from my perspective, the world is craving for your type of sales help as an Authentic Persuader.

Lastly, if you are a sales professional that sees it as your duty to help the people you speak with make the right decisions for what they need/want, and you believe that what you do is an act of service that also provides a great financial benefit when done properly – thank you.

I appreciate you and want more professionals like you in the world.

#authenticpersuasion #sales #alwaysbecurious