Many people have the fear of getting known as a pushy “used car salesman” type character when they’re involved in sales work.  They might use this as an excuse not to get involved with the company training program, or actively seek new clients.  They take more of a passive approach with their selling skills.

I’ve heard many people say “I don’t want to be a sales person” or “I’m not in sales, so I’m not going to be pushy”.

But guess what… we’re all selling something.

Might be the idea we just had, selling ourselves in a job interview, asking someone out on a date or even just selling the company image whenever you’re at work.  The fact is, we’re all in sales… like it or not.  So sales skills are a must, whoever you are!

Remember: If it’s not worth selling, don’t sell it!

I learned early that if you don’t believe in what you’re promoting, then get out of there fast.  If you’re selling something that’s no good, then you are doing no favors to yourself, or your client.  It will always come back on you.  You’ll either earn less (because you know it’s crap), or you’ll just feel bad for ripping people off.  Trust me, it’s not worth your integrity.  You’ll get that “used car salesman” reputation too.  Now you don’t want that do you?

Another reason not to sell something is simply because you can’t make money selling it.  I mean, if you and a friend are selling 5 cars a day, and you only make $50 a sale, and you’re mate is making $500 in the lot next door… then MOVE NEXT DOOR!  Wow, I’ve seen quality sales people go broke just because they had some strong will to make a bad thing work when they could easily have just taken one of many job offers and been really making some money.

The lesson?  You sell to work, and you work to make money.  Sell what you believe in to people who need it, and sell what people are paying for.  You’ll sell a lot more and you’ll make a lot more happy customers.