Many people say they are not a sales person. Maybe that is because of what we think sales people are. In college, a professor asked the class “Who here will be in sales at the end of the year?” I didn’t raise my hand because I pictured a person hauling a vacuum cleaner from door to door. But I was already in sales—as a football coach trainee I had to sell the players on what play to do next, as a bartender I had to sell them to try the latest happy hour drink. If you ask the common person what sales is they’d say it is someone selling someone else a product or service. And they would be wrong.

Sales is transferring a belief. A belief translates into confidence. That confidence moves people. It is not about getting you to do something. It is about getting you to believe in something. If you believe in something you have more personal buy in, i.e. you are more passionate to move it forward. Those that transfer the belief better are the ones people gravitate towards.

The hardest part is getting them to listen so you can instill the belief. Why would you stop and listen to someone you do not know much less engage in a conversation? You must find a way to earn credibility and trust which opens the door more for them to listen. This is the space that true salesmen thrive in. But that is a whole other blog.

Back to where we started. Let me ask you, are you in sales? Everyone is in their own way. You have to sell your staff on what needs to be done. You have to sell your children on what not to do. The confidence I mentioned above goes both ways. If you have confidence that what you are saying to them is correct and benefits them, you are more likely to get them to move forward on your belief. The more people you have following your belief instills more confidence and makes it easier to move more people in your chosen direction.

By Richard Goering,Vice President of Sales and Operations, Bona