#P3 ‘The’ skill that makes or breaks

I am a regular human being. A shorter, childish looking one but a regular human nonetheless. But I believe I am special. I believe I can make anyone do anything. Not through torture or anything crazy. By talking. Plain and simple talking.

I have seen a lot of different types of people in my life so far. I have seen people who are good at a variety of things. I have seen smart engineers, very clever business people, bright bankers, brilliant doctors…….but I have never found anyone more powerful or dedicated or influential than a salesman. They travel the distance. They go the extra mile. They get things done. It is the one profession that rules the world.

The world economy is very simple (at least that’s what I think). Power runs the world. Money brings power and therefore money runs the world.

Let me explain.

What do the most influential people or organizations have that make them stand apart? It’s money. How do they make money? They don’t pluck it off some tree. They don’t print it. (Atleast most of them don’t). These people provide some kind of product or service that other people use. The money they have comes from people who want to use these products or services. The more the number of people using the product/service, the more richer the individuals or organizations get.

If atleast some of you have a vague idea by now as to where I am going with this and if you have the same idea that I have, you are one among the few people with whom I’d actually enjoy having a conversation with.

Now, not all of these companies make products/services that you absolutely can’t live without. Yet they make millions and billions every year from you. How? They make you believe that you need whatever it is that they are selling. They show you whatever they have in the best light. And they make the ‘sale’.

If you ask a bunch of people from different departments as to what the definition of the word ‘sale’ is, they will have a wide variety of answers. But the best answer is going to be the one that you get from a sales executive or a sales trainer.

“Sales is the process of taking money from an individual (or prospect) and putting it in your (or your organisation’s) pocket.”

B2C salesmen lovingly call it the “re-allocation of wealth from those who don’t spend it well to those who do”. And they do have a point, the wealth they bring in for their organization, in turn, helps the organisation to feed a whole lot of mouths in the form of salaries.

And the salesmen; they are the modern-day equivalent to hunter-gatherers from the ages of the early men. Their success feeds the company’s growth and indirectly help the other departments pay salaries on time. They take home incentives for the services they provide and based on my very little worldly knowledge, they make bank.

Understood how they contribute to the world economy? The way I see it, they make sure that money keeps moving. They feed the developers and the people who work behind the scenes. They make companies thrive. And consequently, they make ripples in the economy itself.

Salesmen are easily the highest paid people in any room. Even though it is the most misunderstood or undervalued job in certain countries.

The ability to sell is the most important skill any employee or individual can have. The skills and/or knowledge of an individual tomake something doesn’t actually help him/her successful unless he/she can sell it.

Ask any successful entrepreneur and he will proudly tell you that he is a salesman. Mark Cuban is the person who explains the importance of having the ability to sell like nobody else. And he has proved it with his life. Because a salesperson is able to make others see what he/she sees and even get them to back his/her dreams up with money or power.

You might still be wondering why I am writing this long a post about it. Its because the ability to sell has become the prime skill that you need to become successful in life. In today’s world of internet personalities and influencers, the individuals who can sell have become the leaders of the flock.

In a world overrun by money and power, the man who can sell has become the new survivalist. He/she has the power to get what they want and be what they want. From Steve Jobs to Byju Raveendran, from Charles Ponzi to Elizabeth Holmes, anyone who can sell can make his mark in the world. Be it a positive one or a negative one.

So to the guys who are thinking twice before taking a high-paying sales job, I say this:

Don’t let go of a sales job because you have been told by the society that its somehow inferior. It’s not. Sales is a profession whose name has been smeared and dragged through the dirt by people who fell for the pitches and opened their wallets. They just don’t want to admit that some random stranger made them do something that they wouldn’t normally have done. If you are someone who has the ability to sell, you will always have a way of falling back on your feet no matter what happens.

I think I’ve covered the major points. If I’ve missed out on anything or if you think my view points are wrong, feel free to let me know in the comments below. I have simply wrote down what I have learned so far from my little experience.

Happy Job Hunting to those who asked for this and good day to the others who took the time to read this.