Selling, just like most skills, is learnable. There are books, seminars, and training that one can engage in to acquire knowledge and hone it. However, these materials or means do not suffice for someone to be successful in sales. One must first possess some things before getting into it, and even develop to stay there.
In my years of sales experience, I have truly learned a lot about the art and skills of selling from colleagues, leaders, mentors, and even renowned international trainers. While continuing the journey to growth in this field, however, I needed (and still need) the following for me to have a direction, stay on track, and fulfill my vision:
- Unstoppable Passion. Passion fuels us to be persistent amidst all the challenges we encounter in our work line. Without passion, we will more likely give up easily. It gives us energy. Passion typically serves as the compass of some to go in a specific direction. Some discover it early, but a lot of people find it a bit later.
- Firm Self-discipline. Human as we are, we are prone to distractions. This fact is the reason that we need to develop firm self-discipline. We can overcome distractions when we know how to control ourselves from getting lost in those. With self-discipline, we can go back on track when we become unbalanced for a moment. Successful people, who consistently achieve success in what they do, definitely did not just happen on their accomplishments. They paved their way towards each success by painstakingly following what needs they need to do.
- Positive Attitude. In school, we learned that before our body can carry out any action, we think of them first. That is why when you think you can’t do something, it becomes a reality. In short, you sabotage yourself every time you think negatively. In selling, there are no amount of training and sales techniques that can help us sell if in our mind we are already doubtful. We always have to maintain a positive attitude.
Being successful in sales requires all these and continuous learning because we can only become the best in what we do when we are at our best self – heart, mind, and soul. When we think about it, this also applies to any field of specialization. Whatever career path or whatever our calling is, we need to help ourselves grow in it, continuously burn with passion, maintain self-discipline, and muster positive attitudes. When we have all these, we find fulfillment in what we do because we know we are doing the best we can. Not even money can give us such. Don’t you agree?
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