“I want to find a business opportunity which requires no selling.” How many times have you heard that? How many times have you said that?
I hope you answered the second question with “Never.”
Let me be truthful with you here. There are only five types of businesses on this planet:
Raw Materials Acquisition Manufacturing Distribution Services Sales
No matter the business type you pursue, if you are the owner of the business, then you must participate in sales. That is, unless you begin your business with tons of money and you can afford to hire sales people to work on your behalf.
Sure, there are millions of jobs on the planet that do not require any type of selling. But you must remember that every job you have ever had that did not require any form of selling DID require someone else in the company to do so. No business can survive without someone in the company selling the products or services offered by the company.
The jobs that you think would be great to possess that require no selling are in fact support jobs — supporting those who do the actual selling.
If your goal is truly to start your own business and you do not want to do any selling, you have four options available to you:
Cancel your plans to start your own business. Plan to take on a partner who will do your selling for you. Make sure you have enough start-up capital to hire a salesperson to do your selling for you. Decide to overcome your fears of selling.
WEIGHING THE OPTIONS
For most of us who have harbored dreams of starting our own businesses, the first three items above cannot be looked upon as real options to our quandary.
For us, the only option is to OVERCOME our fear of selling.
FIVE STEPS TO OVERCOMING YOUR FEAR OF SELLING
1. DECIDE to learn how to sell.
Some people argue that sales people are born. That is not true. Sales people have all learned their trade — it is just that some had learned their trade early in life as a child trying to get their way with their parents. If at first you fail, you must try different techniques until you finally get what you came for. The next time your toddler is testing your patience, remember that he/she may be trying to learn how to be a better sales person — to master the art of persuasion.
2. Do not be afraid to try.
As Franklin D. Roosevelt so eloquently told the American people at his inaugural address on March 4, 1933, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
FDR was referring to the economic chaos faced by America during the Great Depression, which was underway as President Roosevelt came into office. Roosevelt had the American economy on his mind as he uttered these famous words, urging Americans not to let the economy continue to be paralyzed by the public’s fear of the economic future of their country.
3. Acquire knowledge.
While it is helpful to acquire knowledge concerning the art of persuasion, the knowledge that will be best acquired is knowledge of your product, service, competition and marketplace.
With knowledge comes confidence.
4. The fourth step to selling is to acquire the confidence that will be yours when you are comfortable in the knowledge you have acquired.
5. The fifth and final step in learning the selling process is to be like the toddler who is trying to learn how to persuade his parents to his wants.
You must spend time practicing your technique and trying to devise methods to improve upon your success rate. Try, try and try again. Once you realize that most professional sales people — who live and breathe sales everyday — do not close every sale, then you are free to fail yourself. It is only through failure that you learn the lessons you need to improve your sales and closing skills.
FINDING YOUR STRENGTH
To find the business opportunity that is right for you, it is important to take the first step now — to make the decision to learn how to sell — and to understand that the rest will come to you later.
You should find strength in the knowledge that the art of persuasion is so easy that even a child can learn how to do it. Start your education today. It may be the only thing standing between you and business success.
John Calder is the owner/editor of The Ezine Dot Net.
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