“Put That Coffee Down! Coffee’s for Closers Only.”*

Feb.03

*From Glengarry Glen Ross, 1992.

Nothing happens until someone sells something. I mean, nothing. I’m not referring solely to the selling of products and services; I’m talking about selling yourself—your ideas, opinions, values, desires and objectives. There is nothing you can obtain in the human experience without the skills of selling or influence.

We learned how to sell before we even learned how to speak. We learned quickly that we can influence the attention and actions of our parents with the right facial expressions or the appropriate cry. They are methods we used to sell or make someone do what we wanted. Children are some of the most effective salespeople there are. A child who wants ice cream or a toy in a grocery store aisle will apply every selling skill in the book, with relentless persistence, until he or she closes the sale. Children know how to overcome objections, push through stall tactics, handle rejection, seek the higher authority, not take no for an answer and continue to ask for the order until the deal is sealed.

Here is what’s most important to understand: We all sell, all day, every day. It always tickles me when someone says, “Oh, I’m not a salesperson.” Then they launch into a detailed “sales” presentation with all the reasons and supporting points to back up their assertion. We all make several dozen sales presentations every day, whether it is selling a friend to go see a movie we are excited about or to try a new restaurant. Maybe you are selling your boss on why you were late, why you need a day off or why you need a raise. And maybe the most important sale you will make is why the person of your dreams and desires needs to pick YOU to spend the rest of their life with. You’d better know how to sell.

Even parents, most especially parents, need to refine and master their selling skills. Parents need to sell their children on their principles and values… before the drug dealer on the street corner sells them his.