Selling with Integrity

Dan Miller has a very good blog post on selling. Everyone, and especially the owners of small businesses, is (or should be) adept at selling. Even when you are interviewing for a job with another company, you are selling yourself and your skills. As Dan puts it:

If you are going to be successful in any way you have to learn to sell, and do it well.

Dan references George Foreman, who initially gained fame as an Olympic and professional boxer. George has subsequently become even more famous for his line of cooking products. Success Magazine has a story on George that is both informative and inspiring. George emphasizes the importance of selling:

If you learn to sell, it’s worth more than a degree. It’s worth more than the heavyweight championship of the world. It’s even more important than having a million dollars in the bank. Learn to sell and you’ll never starve.

But it isn’t all about selling. George also emphasizes the role of integrity:

You don’t want to lie about anything. And it’s something that people will be happy about once they get to know you. Because people count on you.

There are a lot of guys who are successful, they make a lot of big money, I mean millions overnight with a contract, and they don’t understand the evaporation. It evaporates. You’re always back to square one. I found that out, so integrity is how I do business. That’s my main asset.

As I have said many times, sales isn’t about manipulation or deceit. It is about education—learning the customer’s needs and wants—and then educating the customer how your company can meet those values. When you act with integrity you will naturally develop the trust and confidence necessary to make the sale.

A Virtual Mayoral Campaign

For the past nine months I have written for two blogs. This is one. The other, Live Oaks, is my true passion.

Since I was a teenager I have wanted to be a writer. The vagaries of life took me in a different direction for a number of years, but I have returned to that dream. Next month I will have an article published in The Objective Standard, and I am working on other writing opportunities.

In the meantime, I am launching a virtual campaign to become Mayor of Houston. I am not a literal candidate--I have no desire or expectation to be elected. My goal is to influence the debate, a goal that I have successfully achieved in Houston on multiple occasions, as well as in other cities.

You can read my announcement here and my Statement of Principles here.

Thought for the Day

Lots of web sites offer a "thought for the day". One of the best that I have found is from the Napoleon Hill Foundation. (Napoleon Hill wrote one of the best selling self-improvement books of all time, Think and Grow Rich.)

A recent thought of the day stated:

If you don't want your life "messed up," don't fool around with those who have messed up theirs.

There is a lot of truth in this statement, and it applies in a myriad of ways. Some are more obvious that others. It is probably obvious that we should not spend our time with crooks, drug addicts, and similar types. But there are a lot of other people we should also avoid, and often it can be difficult or even painful to do so.

There are a lot of people in this world who carry a very large chip on their shoulder. For whatever reason, they think that life has been unfair to them, that everyone else gets all the breaks, that success is a matter of luck. They never realize that life is full of opportunities, that the doors we slammed shut years ago determine what doors we can open today. They never make the connection between their choices and the results that they experience. They go through life determined to drag everyone around them down to their level.

They can do this in a multitude of ways, but it always means the same thing: "Don't dream too big, because you are going to be disappointed." They believe that dreams are for the naive. And even if you are lucky enough to achieve your dreams, they believe that it won't last. Something--fate, the wealthy, or some demon--will snatch it away from you.

These are the kind of people we need to avoid. Their negativity is a reflection on them, not reality. That they have never dreamed, or abandoned their dreams long ago, is a statement about their inner turmoil, not the facts. This negativity is like a verbal cancer, and if we are repeatedly exposed to it, it can be contagious. It can drag us down, it can dampen our spirit, it can kill our dreams.

People like this are not happy with their own lives, and they don't want anyone else to be happy either. They offer nothing but discouragement. They are not a good influence. They have messed up their lives, and they can mess up yours as well.

There is ample evidence that big dreams can come true--so long as they are realistic and we put forth the necessary effort. And it is much easier to accomplish those goals if we surround ourself with people who also dream big. It is much easier to remain positive when we involve ourself with positive people.