If you want to build wealth, and create an amazing life for yourself, you should spend the time to master many skills. But one skill is extremely important in creating wealth.
Unfortunately, this skill is often tangled up in knots of horrible stereotypes. Many people imagine ugly, intimidating images when they think about this skill, and don’t even know what the definition of this skill is anymore.
But this skill has the power and potential to change your life and finances over night.
What skill am I talking about?
It’s called: SALES SKILLS AND ABILITIES.
If you want to master life, wealth, and dreams, you MUST understand how vitally important sales skills and abilities are, and find ways to improve your sales skills. Here’s how you can do it:
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I am extremely serious. Sales is not a dirty word.
Good sales skills are the skills that make powerful dreams happen.
This is why:
Before you can live any dream, you first have to SELL yourself that a dream is worthy and attainable, and that you can do it.
All great achievements start the moment you sell yourself on the idea that you can do it.
Then, once you’ve sold yourself, you have to sell your dreams to others so that they’ll help and support you on your journey.
Now I’m getting into what sales skills really are:
Sales skills are the ability to see visions on how you can improve life, and then executing a plan to turn those visions into reality.
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Too often, I think people get sales all wrong.
Maybe it’s because they’ve been hurt by sales people in the past. Or they believe stereotypes they’ve been told in the past. Maybe this is why sales sounds like a dirty word for some people.
Bad sales stereotypes can make people sound like pushy, demanding, lying human beings, who ignore human feelings in order to sell things people don’t need to make a profit.
But these aren’t the skills I am talking about.
A person like I described in the above sentence is actually using MANIPULATION SKILLS!
NOT SALES SKILLS AND ABILITIES! There’s a big difference.
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I know what I’m talking about here. I am an expert on this subject.
I sell branded clothing to corporate accounts during my day job.
Over the last few years, I’ve sold around a million dollars worth of product. Almost 100% of my annual sales come from re-orders from happy clients, or personal referrals to new clients. You cannot have client retention numbers like these without having some good sales skills.
My secret to great sales skills is that I never actually try to sell.
The truth is, if you live your life right, and try to be a good, likeable, genuine person, success will usually come and find you.
Here is what I’m trying to say fleshed out in some examples:
SALES SKILLS AND ABILITIES MASTERY EXAMPLE #1:
You secretly have a dream that no one else can see. If you told people about it, no one would believe that you could accomplish it. But you believe you can. Because you believe in yourself.
Before you can accomplish any dream, you have to first sell yourself on the idea that you can accomplish your dreams. Selling yourself means that you’re going to choose to have the confidence that you can do anything you set your mind on no matter what anyone else may tell you.
Then once you believe in yourself, you can use the same sales skills to go out and find new friends who believe in you and your ideas too.
Learning lesson from this example: Sales done right, leads to internal confidence and new genuine friends.
SALES SKILLS AND ABILITIES MASTERY EXAMPLE #2
Let’s say you’re trying to save money to get out of debt. You’ve made new plans to live a more frugal and financially wise lifestyle. No more throwing your money away into consumerist splurges that leave you feeling empty, drained, and broke.
But the friends you have still have expensive tastes. They keep inviting you out to shows and restaurants that drain your bank account $100 bills at a time.
This leaves you with two options:
1) You can either sacrifice who you want to become, to stay the broke person you are.
Or
2) You can use your sales skills and abilities to convince your friends that there’s a better way to live life and spend your money than blowing it in a consumerist orgy every weekend.
Become a master sales person and use sales skills to not only change your life for the better, but also the group of people you’re around.
Make a case that exploring a local park, or taking a hike, or exploring an event outside that’s free, brings far better value than wasting your money and time being stuck in a loud bar.
Sell your idea. Show people that it’s the way to a better life. Make it sound appealing. Make it sound smart and fun.
Make other people want to buy your idea from you so they can have it in their life.
All of a sudden, your friends may start thinking, “Actually that’s a good idea. I want to live a healthier too.”
This is how awesome sales skills and abilities can transform your life.
And if your friends don’t want to become healthier with you, then leave them behind. You’re going to want better friends anyways.
Use your sales skills to go out and find new social groups who want to grow with you.
Learning lesson from this point: Sales done right, can lead you to live a healthier lifestyle with healthier friends.
SALES SKILLS AND ABILITIES EXAMPLE #3
A new job, or business opportunity, has opened up for you. It’s better pay, better work/life balance, and if you can land it, it can lead you to a better future.
But you’re afraid you’re not qualified, or talented enough to make it happen.
Get your sales skills out and go at least see if you can land that job!
Here’s a major life lesson:
Never, ever, wait for your dream life to come and find you. When an opportunity to improve the quality of your life arises, crank your sales skills up to full blast and will your dreams into existence!
What’s the worst that can happen? It doesn’t work out? You don’t get the job? You fail? Who cares!
You’ll just go back to where you were, and you’ll learn more about yourself from trying!
Learning lesson from this point: Sales done right, can push you into opportunities that you never dreamed you could experience.
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Now that I’m almost done with this article, do you see the right way to view sales skills and abilities?
Having awesome sales skills is NOT about lying, manipulating, and forcing people to buy crappy products and ideas from you.
SALES SKILLS, at their core, is an art of creating awesome opportunities for yourself, and the people you’re around so that everyone can live a better life.
Sales skills are the ability to improve people’s lives through your words and actions.
Here are the three core traits of a great sales person:
HOW TO IMPROVE SALE SKILLS LESSON #1: ALWAYS BE A HELPER.
Your goal when mastering sales is to always try and help people improve their lives.
Never mislead. Never lie. Always show them the truth.
Mark Twain once said: “The great thing about telling the truth is, that you never have to remember what you say.”
If you want to be great at sales, always lead people toward finding a better truth than the truths they currently believe in.
Believe in the product and ideas you’re selling. Your reputation is always attached to the things you sell.
Great sales people profit by helping people. Helping people should always be your goal if you want great sales skills.
HOW TO IMPROVE SALES SKILLS LESSON #2: BE A TEACHER.
Sales is never about you. Sales is about teaching and helping the people you meet. Focus on teaching how people can improve the quality of their lives when they work with you.
Value is created when you teach people new ideas that can improve the quality of their lives.
Sales skills and abilities are rooted in communication, education, and passion for helping and teaching.
People with great sales skills are actually hunters of great ideas. Once they capture the best ideas, they then teach their greatest ideas to others for a profit.
New and improved ideas are always in high demand, which is why great sales people know they never have to force a sale if they always have the best ideas.
HOW TO IMPROVE SALES SKILLS LESSON #3: BE A SERVANT.
A person with great sales skills knows their purpose in life is much bigger and more important than pushing crappy products for commission checks.
Their job is to serve the people they’re around, and make everyone’s life better around them better. They promise big results, and then find ways to surpass their promises.
Always be the humblest of the best.
As the blues guitarist Buddy Guy once said, “Just be the best, until the best come around.”
In conclusion, if you want to master the art of wealth, mastering your sales skills can propel you much faster toward your dreams.
Simply find, or create, the greatest ideas.
Then learn how to teach these ideas.
Help people improve the quality of their lives with these ideas.
Serve the people using these ideas.
Become a leader with your ideas.
If you do this, sales skills can accelerate your path to a wealthy life.
Life is an art form. Use your sales skills to create the type of art you want to live.
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I really like your distinction between sales and manipulation. But also great application of sales to our personal lives!
Thanks Dan. Become aware of the sale process in your own life, and you can take control directing your life to where you want to go. If you have a dream you want to reach, just start selling yourself that it’s possible, and then sell that idea to the people you’re around. Sales is not pushing stupid crap. It’s being a leader, and sharing the best solutions to problems with the people you care the most about.
I couldn’t agree more. As a creative I think I can honestly say, we think we’ve above that and don’t want to sully art with commerce – but EVERYONE is in sales to some degree. You need to know how to sell yourself to get a job, to earn more, to get clients … literally everybody needs to have some sales skills for themselves.
Awesome, thanks for stopping by @EEmusings. I am so happy that my thoughts on sales were able to communicate to you clearly. I am a creative also, but I was also blessed with a business mind. Learning that the sales process is ultimately about helping people find better ideas and experiences than what they currently have, was the door that really helped me harmoniously bond the creative and business side of my mind. SALES IS NOT ABOUT PUSHING PEOPLE. It is about helping people, and yourself, improve the quality of your life. Thanks so much for encouraging me with your words @ee