📄 Selling is begging

Always nice to gauge the mood of a room, when I do a training or give a talk:

"What does ‘selling’ represent for you?

"What thoughts or feelings come up?"

People tend to say different things - usually around concepts like "awkward" or "necessary evil", but there are also reactions like "helping" or "serving".

Usually, people say things like "awkward", or ‘necessary evil’, or ‘helping’.

But the other day, someone dropped a real zinger into the chat:

"Selling is begging".

Well no, selling is not begging. Far from it.

It will only feel that way, if you want something from the other person.

But we should want something for our buyer, instead. Not from.

Before anything, we should want for them to make the best possible decision at this point in time.

Which can be a yes or a no, it all depends.

And when you make your selling a process of helping them make that decision, there’s nothing awkward, or evil about it - and certainly nothing beg-y.

I’ll never tire of saying it:

Selling is the oldest profession in the world.

It’s inherently, fundamentally human. It’s how psychology and communication works.

Even chimps sell.

Because in the end, selling really is nothing more than offering something of value - be it time, product, food, attention, care, protection - and asking the other:

Wanna trade?

You do it every day, all day long, and so does everybody else.

Might as well accept that trading is fundamental to being human, and learn how to do it well: no begging required.