Essays

Sales is an important life-skill

17 June 202012th February , 2021No Comments

1/Well, here’s the thing about Sales — you are always SELLING or are BEING SOLD. #Thread ??

2/ If you analyse your life, you will realise that everything is related to sales. Here’s a perspective: When you were a kid, your parents were always selling you that school you went to; to the society you lived in; to the friends you had and to their own friends too.?

3/ And, when you grew up and became independent, you started selling yourself to your friends, to your social media followers, your colleagues & customers. See? Selling is a part of life!?

4/ Sales is like a date. The less of your issues & baggage you bring to it, the more you care about learning about the other person’s life, the more likely it is you’ll seal the deal, sooner or later.?

5/ The more you bring your own fears, the more you show your own desperation, the more you make it all about you — the less likely you’re going to create a meaningful connection. And even if you do, it won’t be a ‘long-term’ relationship.?

6/ Sales is more about the “art of listening” than talking. A lot of times — you end up sharing/talking too much & end up creating more doubt/confusion in the mind of the buyer. Maybe, he was already convinced, but you just didn’t bother to hear.?

7/ Scripts don’t work in Sales — You always keep bringing back the conversation to the script and don’t really understand/listen to the other person. Don’t be bothered more about getting the script right rather than selling.?

8/ Sales is more about SOLVING than SELLING. It is as much about DISCOVERY as it is about DISTRIBUTION. It eventually is more of a PULL than a PUSH.⭐

9/ Back in 2018, I sold a website project to a client without a team or a company. I managed to pull out an advance cheque and ended up using that money to register my first company.?

10/ Money is just a symptom of value. Sell value to those, who value what you bring. So, there’s no good salespeople or bad salespeople. They are just great or terrible. Everybody else in the middle is just trying hard, but not really selling.?

11/ For small ticket sizes ~ < $20k, I have closed deals & initiated work in less than 24 hours, while others were figuring proposals. More often than not, the market is much bigger than you think you’ve already tapped into.?

12/ Always recommend people to INTERN IN SALES as their first off college gig, irrespective of their area of study. That helps later during interviews for the actual job you’ve always wanted.?

13/ Bonus tip: It also helps deal with rejection & a constant ‘not interested’. Helps to become persuasive & patient too. Also, you’d know when to talk and when not to. So, you learn to grow with these life skills you earn during the process.?

14/ Quick Tip: Shadowing the champion sales guy in your company is the best way to pick up the necessary skills & traits. And not necessarily by reading. Think of it as more of experiential learning than upskilling.?

15/ Law of attraction and energy works in Sales: Value your clients & colleagues as well as the relationship you share with them. People almost always reciprocate.?

16/ Commit to speed, transparency & closures. Remember that Sales is about being “all in” for the long run.?

17/ Finally, selling IS going to be difficult & different now since a significant % of it is virtual only. So, keep it crisp, to the point, make sure to add value from the 1st minute & more importantly, use video as much as possible.?

18/ Well, for better or worse, video or not, Jamtara folks have mastered the Art of Selling.??

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Aditya Gupta

Aditya Gupta

Product leader & 2x entrepreneur with 15+ years of experience in building & scaling technology businesses. Startups. Technology. Travel. Motorcycles. Music. Curious. Learner. Ambitious. Random.