From Pitch to Profit

CHAPTER 1REVENUE = SALES = BUSINESS

The function of selling is largely misunderstood. While it carries a perception that can make people squirm, many of those views have been carried forward from decades ago, when selling was very different from today.

Selling today is not about making someone buy something they don't want. Even if your product or service is the best thing since robot vacuums chased our pets, it's unlikely that any pressure you put on someone will be to the point where they are under enough duress to feel they must purchase. These days, consumers are too good at saying no and simply walking away.

But people — and companies — still struggle to understanding modern selling. Even though most of my clients are companies with turnover starting at $50 million (and much more), I am still regularly told by experienced CEOs and managing directors something along the lines of, ‘Julia, you probably can't help our company, because we don't “do” sales’. When I dig a little deeper, they explain that this is because they aren't a sales company.

In my 26 years of business experience, the only word I believe you can interchange with ‘sales’ is ‘revenue’. So to think that these large companies don't ‘do’ revenue — well, it just doesn't make sense, does it?

I have news for you, and it's all good: if you're doing revenue, you're ‘doing’ sales.

Years ago, I was selling to a large professional services firm. In my conversation with the managing partners, they acknowledged how much ...