Why sales is sometimes seen as a negative thing.

Hey, it's Bruce Hill with "New Skills, New You." Today, we're diving into a topic that often gets a bad rap: sales. I want to take a few minutes—about 10—to explore why sales is sometimes seen as a negative thing.

This message is going out to my customer service teams, customer service leaders, and anyone in a customer-facing role, whether you're a customer success manager, speaker, or coach. If you're someone who genuinely wants to support customers, this is for you. It's also relevant for business owners and entrepreneurs.

So, why do we have this aversion to sales? If you type that question into a search engine, you’ll get a wide range of answers. Recently, I did a live sales Q&A on https://ineedsalessupport.com/ . If you missed it, you can sign up for reminders there. During the session, almost all the questions were variations of: "How can I create revenue for my business without selling?"

When I hear these questions, I start wondering what’s really behind them. Sure, the words are about avoiding sales, but what’s the underlying motivation?

I’m wearing my Traffic Sales and Profits hoodie—this was from last June’s event. They talked about building a business strong enough to hire others. How do you do that? There are a few options:

1. Raise Funding: Investors will want their money back, whether it’s venture capital or other forms of investment.
2. Take Out Loans: These come with interest and have to be repaid.
3. Grants: While grants are a great option, they’re not a sustainable or consistent way to grow your business.

The only reliable way I’ve found to grow revenue for your business is by creating new customers and encouraging repeat business. This is why I love talking to customer success and customer service teams. Many don’t realize they’re also in sales. If someone signs up for your product or service and doesn’t like it, they’re not buying again, and they might even tell their friends not to buy.

We need to shift our perspective. Sales isn’t a bad thing; it means we’ve added value to the customer’s life. We’ve solved a problem for them or helped them achieve a goal more quickly or easily than they could have on their own. That transaction is called selling, and you should feel good about it.

At the end of the day, week, month, quarter, or year, you can look back and see that the revenue you’ve created reflects how much you’ve helped others. And the more you charge, the more people you can help. Charging what your service is worth—not just what others’ budgets allow—makes your business more sustainable.

I have a whole other class on pricing. Drop me a comment if you want me to send you a link for that one. You can set any price you want for your product or service. The real question is how much time and energy it will take you to find customers willing to pay that price.

Now, back to selling. Selling is the most effective way to grow your business. To create new customers, you need to provide value and solve problems. Here are three reasons people often avoid selling:

1. Fear of Rejection: We don’t like hearing "no." One of the most successful trainings I’ve done was about asking better questions and hearing "yes" more often. Rejection can feel personal, but remember, they’re not rejecting you—they’re saying the solution isn’t right for them.
2. Fear of Judgment: What will others think? This fear has held back many in network marketing, including me at times. I’ve learned a lot from network marketing, but my fear of judgment limited my success. I thought I had to trick people into working with me instead of being transparent about the value I provided. Once I overcame this fear and focused on offering genuine value, I had much more success.
3. Self-Doubt: Am I worth what I’m charging? Could they do it themselves? We often talk ourselves out of selling because we doubt our own worth. This self-doubt can lead to giving away products or services for free. While I love helping people, giving away too much isn’t a sustainable business model. Even nonprofits have budgets!

So, ask yourself: Is fear of rejection stopping you from selling and growing your business? Is fear of judgment keeping you from telling people what you do? Is self-doubt making you question your value?

Once you realize that being successful in sales isn’t about innate talent but about believing in yourself and the value you offer, you can start to grow your business. Focus on adding value to the marketplace and solving problems.

More revenue means it’s easier to hire top performers, invest in tools, and pour into marketing and advertising. And the best part? Revenue doesn’t need to be paid back.

So, go get those grants if you need funding, but remember, creating revenue by providing value to clients will lead to significant growth for your business.

I’m Bruce Hill, with “New Skills, New You,” focusing on your personal and professional development with an emphasis on sales. Because when you grow your people, you grow your business. Talk to you again soon!