Everyone Is Selling Something

Quite often I will be approached by friends and family asking me about tips on how to sell. Telling me that they could never do what I do, and that they probably couldn’t sell anything if their very life depended on it.

I remember this one friend in particular named Sarah. Now Sarah had just started a new job, and part of that job involved sales.

Sarah started our conversation right along those lines, telling me in a strong and confident tone just how sure she was that she had no sales skills.

Moving her hands as she spoke she went on to tell me that she was sure to lose the job because she wouldn’t be good enough.

She then paused, watching me, her eyes measuring my own response to her words, then deciding that I was on the same page she continued.

Sarah told me all about the times that she had tried and failed, losing a sale and making her feel embarrassed and nervous.

She then told how each time she had lost a sale at her new job she had not had much sleep so she was very tried that day, or how she had been distracted because of a fight with her boyfriend.

She then reached out, looking me straight in the eyes and asked me if I got what she was saying.

What Sarah didn’t realise is something that most people never do, and that is that everyone is Selling Something

Now I know that this is a rather ironic example of how that works, given that Sarah was selling to me her belief that she could not sell, but it shows us that no matter the topic, service or item – that humans are naturally made to communicate what we think and feel to other people.

So there is NO reason that we can’t identify those natural instincts, responses and triggers and instead of only subconsciously using them –we can make the choice to use them.

So let’s take a step back and REALLY look at what Sarah did.

When Sarah started our conversation she naturally helped demonstrate her points and what she felt for the subject by indicating her emotions through her tone of voice, speech patterns and her body language. Sarah was both subconsciously and consciously emphasizing her points to show me just how much she believed in what she was saying, in order to convince me enough to feel the same way.

Sarah then used her natural human instincts to feel if she was doing well, to ‘sum me up’ so to speak. Once she had established that I wasn’t trying to object to her point of view she felt enough trust towards me to open up and discuss her pain points.

With each point of pain she expressed to me she then went on to back it up with reasoning and logic in order to justify her expressed feelings with facts. All of this to again subconsciously find a way to connect with me and convince of her views. Offering me reasoning as a way to rule out any thoughts of mine that might indicate she was wrong.

Sarah just sold Sarah

So to all of those people out there who think they cannot sell………..

Selling is only making the conscious choice to communicate using natural instincts (mixed with a bit of good timing).

So the next time you are in a passionate conversation with a friend, take a step back and listen to what your body and your mind is doing behind the scenes, and the next time you have to make a sale – you’ll know what to do.