Do Business Better

15Sell, Sell, Sell!

There's an old saying among peddlers: “If nobody sells, a terrible thing happens: nothing.”

You may or may not like the idea of being a salesperson. Doesn't matter. If you're in business, in any capacity, the above statement holds. Without sales, nothing happens. You can't pay the light bill, let alone the talent you hope to employ to make your business thrive, without sales.

My former employer, Cooper Lighting, now a subsidiary of Eaton Corporation, was fond of saying, “We're a sales‐driven company.”

Aren't they all? Yes, we were in the business of manufacturing light fixtures, but the factories wouldn't run without orders from customers. Those orders came in through the sales department.

Without sales, you have no business.

Sales Equals Revenue

Government raises revenue by taking it from its citizens through taxes. If you don't pay, you face prosecution. In business, we don't have that power. We must sell some good or service to create our revenue.

Your objective is to do business better. A key component of that goal can be attained by selling your company's offerings better.

A Few Things I've Learned About Sales

I've sold Cutco knives, herbicide, oil absorbent products, light fixtures, and Ag products. I've taken sales classes and participated in sales training. More educational than all that: lessons from selling the services of my own business since 1994.

A few things:

• Sales skills are teachable. Individuals who say they're not “natural born” salespeople ...