My Two Cents: We’re All Salespeople, So Don’t Sell Yourself Short

By Andy Kriege, YSN

 “Everything in life is a sale and everything you want is a commission.”— Grant Cardone

You don’t have to be on the sales floor selling top mounts or motion bases to be considered a “salesperson.” I would argue that every time you communicate with someone you’re selling something, whether you intend to or not. Everything we do and say at some level is an attempt at persuasion.

Any time you have an interest in the outcome of a situation, you are selling. That’s pretty much everything, right? We all spend a great deal of time persuading, influencing and trying to get people on the same page we’re on. Like it or not, we’re all in sales.

Fact: One in nine people in the U.S. workforce is in sales. I would argue that the other eight are in sales as well. This includes you and me.

Example: No matter how burned the ribs are, I tell (sell) my wife what a great job she did grilling them, lest she decide that’s a job I should be doing. Same goes for the lawn.

Yet tell someone they’re acting like a salesman and they’ll probably take it as an insult. Call ’em a used-car salesman and they might punch you in the face. The reality, however, is that we’re all salespeople in one way or another. If you’re not selling yourself and your ideas, you are not forwarding your own best interests.

When you become cognizant of this, it becomes pretty obvious that in every interaction throughout our lives someone is trying to sell us something and we are doing the same to them. Your success in life is determined in no small measure by your ability to sell.

Just imagine if we all honed our sales skills to the level of those who make a living at it. If we could figure out a way to sell ourselves more effectively in every aspect of our lives, what a difference it would make to all of us. As the great Zig Ziglar famously said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you just help other people get what they want.”

Right now, all I want is a rack of ribs that still has some meat left on it. I have two choices: Improve my selling skills or brush up on my grilling skills.

And that’s my two cents.

Andy Kriege is General Manager of Communications for YSN publisher AVB/BrandSource, the nation’s leading merchandising and marketing co-op for independent appliance, home furnishings and consumer tech dealers.

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