The lost art of selling

I am asked multiple times thru the week, what is it you do John? Multiple times I answer, I am a salesman…I sell multiple products each of which provide unique value proposition to an appropriate client. This answer confuses people more than ever. We live in times where good old fashioned selling is a lost art. We have experts on experts…we have consultants seemingly around every corner…but who does the actual grunt work of selling, building a sales funnel, following up sometimes five, six or seven times with a prospect, trying to generate repeat sales? I can guarantee that the answer is not many.

Real selling requires discipline.

Real selling is difficult.

Real selling can be demoralizing.

Real selling is a lost art.

Social Media marketing…website marketing…SEO…networking…relationship marketing…all peripheral, layered, necessary components for generating interest & prospects. But unless you’re selling a specific gadget via an e-commerce platform, someone has to close the sale. Closing a sale is hard…after 30 years of selling, it never gets easier. There is no silver bullet. But it must happen. All too often in this digital & technology driven world, we forget that simple premise. A service and/or commodity needs to be exchanged for revenue…it’s that simple yet that difficult. Just ask 9 out of 10 start-ups…once the seed money has been used up, oh my gosh, we need to sell to stay in business.

It is a lost art, but a necessary one. It’s lonely, it’s not fashionable, it takes a ton of time and it takes a strong disposition to handle the rejections, but if you’re doing it now, you have a friend who understands the process angst and conversely the enormous joy of closing. Hang in there, more businesses need to respect and understand how crucial the lost art of selling is to their long-term success. 🙂