My Greatest Sale Ever

It was in 1990 that I made my greatest sale ever.  The sales cycle in this case, was just over 2 years, and it’s still technically in play to this very day. 

 This is something that goes back many, many years, when I first got into sales.  I was new at the whole process, and did not really know much about it, at least not as much as I understood.  When you really think about it, most people are selling all their lives.  And as long as they are passionate about it, they are usually pretty good at it…that is, until they start thinking of it as selling.  When they do, they move from passion to process. This is a change I’m so glad I never made in my greatest sale ever, and a lesson worth re-visiting often!

 It is like trying to focus too much on your golf swing, your tennis swing, or whatever it is that you do – using the sports analogy.  The more you think about it, the more you tend to mess it up!  On the other hand, if you love it, and you’re passionate about it, you commit, do what’s right, stay in the game and let your desire and purpose lead your actions.

 Let me get back to my greatest sale ever.  In those early days, I was nervous about selling, and I was not very confident.  I would compare myself to others and think, Wow, how could I ever sell or accomplish the level of results that these people have? What a gap I have in terms of technique, skill and overall sales expertise!  Then my buddy, my good friend and mentor over many years, said this to me: “Mike, when you go home and you see your wife, you need to realize that she is your greatest sale ever and draw confidence from that.” This was not meant in a stereotypical sales way, meaning I conned her into being my wife, but in a real perspective of sales - building the relationship, and building a foundation of trust and caring.  When you think about the basic idea that people do business with people they know, like and trust (gotta be careful here!), you think about the reality of building the relationship.  Good sales is not a one-night process.  Good sales is a marriage.  It is a long term process.  Now, when it comes to marriage, I recommend one client (no, Amy’s not a client – stay with me here!). In the true context of effective selling you want committed relationships with multiple clients - long term, deep, lasting relationships built on trust and caring.

 So I look back and think, you know, she was and still is my greatest sale ever. This is not a sale I made once and then took for granted.  This is a sale that I look to make every single day, and, thankfully, she does too.  She is, without question, my greatest sale ever and really where I still draw my greatest level of confidence in sales and in life.