The Biggest Lie You've Ever Been Sold (Part 2)

I shared last week about the first big lie I’d sold myself over the years and how I broke the dam on that one. The second lie big lie I sold myself was that I wasn't good at sales. (If you haven't seen it you can find it here) 

From my earliest days in the retail environment, where I started my marketing career over two decades ago, I was exposed to a sales environment. I was happy to help people, build connections, yet I made it crystal clear, by drawing an imaginary line in my head between the roles, over which I will not cross, that I was NOT going to “sell”.

There was an inherent fear that I couldn’t do it, a cognitive bias that it wasn't my "thing", so throughout all my adult life, I admired people that were good at selling of course, just simply told myself it wasn’t for me.

Sound familiar?

It became a self-fulfilling prophecy that I preached to anyone who’d listen. “I am not a salesperson!” I would proudly announce at conferences and parties.

Sure, I would do the ground work, get someone ready for buying, but then stoically hand over the “sale” to someone more “qualified” to do the transaction. Not that they had any qualifications in sales, but because they embraced the title, I concluded they were better to do it than me. As I continually reinforced the lie, it landed even deeper in myself.

This tightly held belief progressed in later stages to the point that even as a senior marketing professional I sold everyone the lie that while I was good at marketing, I ‘sucked’ at sales. Yes, I’d even use those words.

About a year ago however, something happened that caused a shift. For the first time ever, after almost 30 years in the workforce, I had a desire to be “in sales”. This came out of necessity, due in part to the convergence of marketing and sales which left little delineation between the roles; secondly, and more significantly, I discovered that my love of communicating with people one-on-one is actually the cornerstone of sales (in contrast with marketing, which is communication of the same message to many).

To drive my new epiphany home, I engaged in some sales training which instilled in me the confidence that anyone can do sales, and that by building up my confidence in that area and learning to ask the right questions, I could be successful at it.

More recently, I read an article shared by Jill Rowley, talking about the modern landscape of sales and what it is – essentially, always helpful, never pushy. I’m embarrassed to admit that previously I had the (mis)perception that to be successful in sales it was necessary to put people in an uncomfortable position in order to get them to buy.

What I’ve now learned is that a profession can’t be defined by the few, and the sales profession in particular should not be defined by pushy spruikers any less than the grand profession of marketing can be defined by spammers and junk mail.

Once I told myself I was good at sales, I immediately began to see the correlation. Getting out of my comfort zone with sales allowed me to deepen my passion for marketing. I can sell my value, I can sell a business case, I can sell a concept and I can sell an argument as to “why” something should be done (which doubles as a great tool at home with my kids).

I’m also a natural at communicating my contagious excitement around something – be it a great podcast, event, food or technology - to the point that I regularly have family and friends following my advice. And it dawned on me – that’s sales. We need to sell something we believe in – because then it comes naturally, without effort.

This is my journey. Yours will be different.

You may already be a gun in sales (as well as creativity as I touched on last week) – yet struggle with limitations in other areas.

So I want to encourage you to think about the biggest lie that you’ve sold yourself.

Is it that you’re not a people person?

That you’re not an achiever?

That you wouldn’t be a good manager?

That you’re not an ideal business owner?

That you’re not good with numbers?

That you’re not a go-getter?

It could be one of these or limitless other debilitating perceptions.

You are a wonderfully and intricately created being. The human mind is infinitely more capable than any computer or piece of technology – and yet we only use a fraction of this – and not just in the intellectual realm, in the creativity and personality realm as well.

It’s your exciting gift and privilege to find out what your expression of these things are, because we all have an expression of all of these things - each of us have it packaged differently.

Before the year is out, shake off the biggest lie you’ve ever “sold” yourself, and make a conscious decision to do what you need to do to shift that and change your legacy.

You’ll be amazed at who you truly are.