Thursday, December 06, 2007

Sales 'R Us: Fine Tune Your Sales Pitch for a Better Life

We’re all pushing products. For example, a kindergarten teacher peddles Circle Time to five-year-olds. A community planner pitches a new system. We’re all in the sales business.

We’re all selling some service and product, including ourselves to bosses, students, teachers, co-workers and customers. Consider this: When we campaign for a new raise, we’re trying to sell our accomplishments to company management.

I'd like to think of myself as some kind of artist. But if I don't want to be a starving artist, I have to be real about the sales aspect of my job. As a writer, I’m constantly pitching stories to editors and readers. It’s a constant courtship and a push for attention, translating into dollars for me. Even when I send out poems to literary magazines, the manuscript -- with a pitch/cover letter -- has to be bundled in the right format, tone and technique.

Therefore, by learning more about sales techniques, I can improve my lifestyle and my income. That’s the message from Day 23 in the book Year To Success by Bo Bennett.

“Sales is an important, frequent and necessary part of life. The better we are at it, the more often we will get the things we want,” Bennett writes.

He defines sales "as the ability to gracefully persuade." Forget manipulation. In fact, if the image of a shady, used-car sales force represents your idea of the sales biz, think again.

Here are a few helpful links about selling:

Become a Better Salesperson


How to Be a Better Salesperson
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