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Please
remember my columns are copyright-protected.
Feel free to print a copy for
yourself but please do not reprint
them for distribution without
contacting me first. Thank you.
 SAVVY
SELLING - NOVEMBER
2, 2007
Wisdom
from 25 Years in Sales
by Michelle Nichols
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW:
After six wonderful years writing
for BusinessWeek, I'm moving
on to new challenges. I'll leave
you with some important lessons
I've learned
A few months ago, my gut started
screaming at me to stop writing
this column. At the time, that
seemed as crazy as not breathing.
I'd been writing Savvy Selling
for six years and I still had
plenty of interesting sales
topics left to explore. However,
I respect my intuition because
it represents 40-plus years
of life experience. I've learned
that whenever I ignore its guidance,
I have regrets.
I'm not one to casually walk
away from a great relationship.
Through my columns, I was able
reach more folks around the
world in a month than I could
speak to in a lifetime. Helping
readers sell more and building
friendships in the process (I
made friends in over 50 countries)
have been my favorite parts
of the process.
Six years of biweekly columns
adds up to around 150 columns.
At about 800 to 1,000 words
each, that's enough to fill
two or three books. Here are
some parting insights from my
25 years in the sales business,
six of them writing Savvy Selling,
which I'd like to share with
you.
1. Life is short. Make yours
count. Reach for the low-hanging
fruit first. Identify those
people you can present or complete
the sale to, or help today.
Call them right away. Then work
on your long-term sales prospects.
2. Be real. To start, find
out who you are so you can be
real to yourself. What are you
good at? What do you like? What's
important to you? For instance,
I found that my favorite part
of public speaking was giving
workshops and helping individuals,
not giving keynotes from the
podium, where I was expected
to pontificate on three points
and worry about my arm gestures.
Next, be real with others and
encourage them to be real with
you. I've found that by doing
so with my customers, they feel
safe enough to share who they
really are with me. Only then
can they tell me what's truly
important to them, which allows
me to sell them the right solutions
in the right way at the right
time. As a result, everyone
wins and selling is easy.
3. Be bold. Create big doorways
of opportunity and then walk
through them. BusinessWeek created
this column for me after I sent
a letter to the site's editor.
They asked if they could print
it, I said yes, and inquired
if they wanted a sales columnist.
They said yes—and we struck
a deal that day.
A similar process led me to
my podcast series. The president
of an Internet company mentioned
podcasts to me, so I asked BusinessWeek
if I could record some for them,
even though I had no idea what
podcasts were. Four months later
when I got the green light,
I jumped in and booked Zig Ziglar,
the famous master motivator,
as my first guest a few weeks
before his 80th birthday. Ziglar
was a delight and I had a ball
interviewing him and the 44
guests that followed.
4. Have fun. The old saying,
"If Momma ain't happy,
ain't nobody happy," applies
to sales, too. If the salesperson
isn't having fun, nobody's having
fun. Don't be dry; sell in a
way that brings a smile to your
customers and makes them look
forward to seeing you.
My office is filled with funny
things to help me lighten up.
I have a Rodney Dangerfield
doll that says in Rodney's voice,
"I don't get no respect,"
and a sign my kids bought me
that reads, "Beware of
Attack Salesman." I collect
humorous mugs and silly books,
too.
5. Balance your family and
work. Six years ago, I asked
BusinessWeek if I could write
a column about the death of
my son, Mark, and the lessons
I've learned from that terrible
experience. That column (BusinessWeek.com,
7/19/02) generated over 100
e-mails from around the world.
Every following year in late
July, I wrote a column about
balancing family, work, and
life. Your letters in response
have been a great source of
healing and encouragement to
me. This is an example of the
payoff I've received from being
real and bold.
6. Love all, always. I know
this is a sales column, but
it applies to our customers,
employees, and families, too.
Life really is short; sometimes
it ends abruptly. Everyone you
meet is fighting a tougher battle
than you know, so be gentle.
The best we can hope for is
to live a full, happy life and
leave behind a handful of people
who love and respect us.
As the classic breakup line
goes, "It's not you, it's
me." I am bidding you farewell
so I can spend my time boldly
tackling whatever it is I'm
supposed to do next. Please
feel free to keep in touch—and
happy selling!
Michelle Nichols is a
professional sales speaker and
consultant based in Reno, Nevada.
She is also the Savvy
Selling podcast host for
BusinessWeek. She welcomes your
questions and comments. You
can visit her web site at www.savvyselling.com
or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com.
Her toll-free number is (877)
352-9684 and direct line is
(775) 303-8201.
Copyright
2007. All rights reserved.
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