A–B–S. A always, B be, S selling, always be selling, *always*… be selling. Botched “Glengarry Glen Ross” quotes aside, this isn’t just a salesman’s motto. It’s an observation I’ve made recently, about you, about me, about everybody. We’re all selling, all the time. Not physical products, but our ideas, emotions, feelings.
How I Learned This
Coming to realize this took a lot of time, as well as plenty of outside influence.
Two things really went into learning this. One, this might sound absurd, but the DiCaprio film “The Wolf of Wall Street” (which, in fact, contained exactly zero wolves. Ripoff.) was the first eye-opener. My second was trading the Porsche for the Crossfire, and later the S2000 for my drift-spec 240 (to read more about how I went from a small, not-running snowblower to a Porsche, S2000, and more, click here). Each of those events taught me something, and when you looked at both lessons, they revealed the picture. Life isn’t about the buyers. it’s about the sellers.
I’ve heard terms such as “buyer’s remorse”, “buyer’s market”, and other terms. These have something in common; they focus on the buyer. Media generally does the same, as it’s more profitable to target the buyer than the seller. With the media “backing” the buyers, the people go out and spend more than they usually would. In some cases, they spend more than they even have, creating debt.
That’s a word to remember, debt, as there’s more than one kind of it (not all debt is bad!). That’s what the country runs on though, be it student loans, mortgages, or even credit cards. Debt isn’t what we’re here to talk about though. If you want to learn more about the different kinds, and how you can use debt for your profit (trust me, you don’t wanna miss this!), click here. In the meantime, on with the show!
How Am I Selling?
I know, I know, my claims sound pretty far out there. Somebody having been selling all their life? What, like a baby in a suit leading a board meeting? It’s okay to laugh, it’s pretty funny. That’s not exactly what I mean though. The baby part, yes. The suit/board meeting part? Much less likely. Babies *do* in fact sell though. When they cry, their goal is to get something. They’re putting their emotions and feelings out there, pushing them to you, and then you decide what to do.
Sound familiar? Yes? No? Maybe so? Well, think of what somebody at a farmer’s market is doing. They want you to buy what they have, and in order to do that, you have to want to buy it. Their goal is to convince you that you want their product. In short, they’re putting their ideal scenario out there, and you’re making a choice with it. Like a baby crying because it’s hungry. (Not a comparison of the two, just a happy little accident ^-^) See? Even infants sell in one form or another.
That being said, selling isn’t inherently bad. A baby doesn’t sell on you because it’s trying to deceive you, or take something (besides food) from you. A person at a farmer’s market usually isn’t trying to give you a short deal. Me writing this article for you, I’m not trying to force you into something. All three of these scenarios are selling in different forms, and none of them are by default bad. Selling is, at its core, people passing their point of view/opinion on to other people. Selling doesn’t always have to result in a profit being made, but the action of selling is the same either way.
So… If Selling Isn’t Bad, Why Do We All Think So?
That’s an excellent question. All this time, we’ve been told that selling is bad. Why? We’ve all seen the adverts of some sleazebag salesman on TV, trying to get your money for his or her “limited time deal”. That, right there, is why. Television. Radio. The Internet. Media as a whole, giving the public what they think we crave: the worst of the worst. We don’t see the honest salesman, your friendly neighborhood kid, shoveling snow to make an honest living. We don’t see your local farmer’s market, where everybody isn’t there to compete, but to help the community.
That’s the problem these days, is that the media decides what we see.. And what we *don’t* see, which is even worse. What we’re shown is these people that are only in it for a buck, not for the customer at all. That just isn’t the whole truth, there are so many examples of nice, honest salespeople. They aren’t all slick-haired kleptomaniacs, practically bloodhounds for money. There’s good people doing the same work, they just don’t get the recognition they deserve. Even you and I, we sell too, but nobody puts TV cameras in our faces. Honest salespeople just don’t pull the same numbers for the media outlets as crooked ones do.
You’re Right, But Isn’t The Media Right Too?
Well, I’m not gonna tell you “no”. To almost every rumor or stereotype, there’s a grain of truth it’s based on. Here, the grain of truth is nested in a small history lesson, the US’s westward expansion. When the settlers were going west to lay claim to land, they grew sick, weary, low on supplies, and most importantly, desperate. The people who were already there saw these miserable settlers, and saw dollar signs.
The natives colored water and other liquids, dressed as merchants, and visited these settlers. They presented their colored water as potions and special ointments, etc, promising that they’d cure all their issues (scurvy, achy feet, malnutrition, and more). Once they made their sale, they packed up and moved along to the next sucker. They would tell their clients each time that it would take multiple days to take effect, and by the time it was proven a scam, the merchant was long gone.
This is many hundreds of years ago, but the principles remain the same (unfortunately). For example, used car salesmen are practiced to quickly lock someone into a deal, with a flurry of buzzwords and false promises. By the time the buyer figures out the *very* short end of the stick they got, they’re locked in by contract. Then the salesman goes on to the next person to walk on the lot.
By no means am I saying all car salespeople are bad. A good friend of mine runs an honest used car lot, and does good by his customers, and well for himself. I’m simply referring to the stereotype of the used car salesman.
How Does This Affect Me?
Well, there’s a *lot* of ways this could impact your daily life. Maybe you decide to ignore that infomercial that *almost* got you to call in. Possibly, you ignore the up-sells that your Wal-Mart is pushing at the register. If hearing this saves you even once from one of those scenarios, that’s a win to me. Maybe your experience is more passive though, maybe it’s just you noticing the things that others say that are selling tactics, or start to change the words you use because of it.
This lesson goes hand in hand with my talk about Craigslist, in which I go over the basics of buying and selling on the platform. Selling is important there, whether you’re the one selling or the one avoiding sales tactics. No matter your situation, there’s always going to be somebody selling. Will you be able to tell who?
