I began my journey into entrepreneurship some 9 years ago. I remember being a young sales woman, eager to learn how to sell someone on my product. I learned the “selling points” of my offerings. I learned how to tell if the person was in my target market by a specific 5 point check list my mentors crammed into my memory. I knew to “go for no” and how sales were a numbers game. I learned all you can learn as a sales person except how to provide value.
Over the years, sales got old and it got old quick. Going through the numbers, being hung up on, cussed out, having the door slammed in my face, or my business card dropped on the ground in front of my face eventually got the best of me. For a long time, I shunned all things I perceived as sales. I determined that if I had to sell something to have my own business, then I would rather work for someone else (It was a low point in my life…)
After licking my wounds from the world of sales, I began to pursue my passion. My passion led me to my current business of consulting. Having a consulting business meant I had to sell my services…or even worse, I had to sell myself. This opened up the possibility that the rejection could feel more personal. Like it was directed at me. I struggled with this thought until I realized one day that I provide value. I solve a problem. Who needs to sell that? When you realize that people, companies and organizations have a need, they have a problem and you can solve it, you will move from the thought process of making a sale to providing value and that’s a good place to be.
~JMJ