You should learn how to sell—here's why ??

A lot of people think sales sucks.

(I was once one of them.)

When you think about sales, what’s the first thing that pops into your head?

Is it a sleazy salesperson? Someone hitting you up repeatedly in your LinkedIn DMs?

Is it this guy?

(Photo from Matilda. BTW, I recently watched Matilda with my kids again and it's a lot more terrifying than I remembered.)

Sales has a stigma for many of us...

But sales is much more than a stigma. It's an important skill, and not just a business skill—it’s a life skill.

Here’s why you should learn how to sell:

No matter what you do for work, you sell every single day.

You might be a creative that’s selling your ideas to clients or into your organization.

You might be a founder that’s working to get buy-in from your team to work together toward your vision.

You might be an orthodontist that’s selling your approach for fitting all of a kid’s teeth into his mouth.

Okay, that’s a weird example. I’ve been shopping orthodontists for my 10-year-old (who knew that was a thing?). Some of them really don’t know how to get buy-in from potential customers—clearly, they don’t read my weekly letter. ??

Heck, you could even be trying to sell your friends on your favorite brunch spot this weekend.

My point is: we’re always selling.

Learning to sell is really a matter of getting over your own fears.

Sales is laced with SCARY situations, especially for those of us who hate hearing no or are terrified of rejection (most of us).

It took me way too long to get past the fear. To understand the importance of really learning how to sell.

I relied on my natural instincts for five years while growing my company. We mostly sold new clients that knew of us locally or were referred. (Sound familiar?)

This is an a-ok way to grow. It works for a lot of companies. But... no one reaches their aggressive goals by sitting back and waiting for cash to come. If you have huge goals, and I suspect a lot of you reading this letter do, you must learn how to sell.

Here are a few ways to dip your toe into the water:

Sign up for an affordable online class.

Find an accountability partner. Meet weekly to read applicable materials and hold each other accountable to your goals.

Finally, read To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink. This book changed my mind about sales, and I think it’ll help you, too.

BTW: I talked in more depth about why you should learn how to sell on my podcast last week. Check out the latest episodes:

• Are you productive or just “busy”?
• Why you must know how to sell
• Perception vs. reality (social media edition)