A blurb from a piece from that old Nixon speechwriter Ben Stein about selling, Everybody’s Business: The Sales Profession (he’s a lawyer too of course). It’s a short and sweet piece that waxes poetic about his first real job selling shoes and the honor in selling.
Sales — when done right — is more than a job. It is an art. It is a high-wire act. It is, as Arthur Miller immortally said, being out there “on a smile and a shoe shine.” It is learning the product you are selling, learning it so well that you can describe it while doing a pirouette of smiles for the customer and talking about the latest football scores. It is knowing human nature so well that you can align the attributes of your product or service cleanly with the needs and wants of your customers.
At its best, selling is taking a doubt and turning it, jujitsu style, into a powerful push. Selling is making the customer feel better about spending money — or investing it — than he would have felt by keeping his wallet zipped…
Lawyers and doctors and dentists and politicians and accountants and actors — all of us sell something, every day and every time we meet someone. For me, it all goes back to Shoe Giant, 47 years ago, and I wish that every 17-year-old I know could have that experience. It takes some ability at sales to believe in your own future, no matter what that future may be.
I think this identifies my problem…I had no sales background prior to becoming an attorney and later choosing to be a self-employed attorney responsible for a lot of selling. Should have been in retail when I was young instead of at the Glenview Park District. Hopefully admitting the problem is a first step towards correction and an honest attempt at improvement shall be forthcoming. I think it’s a weakness many attorneys share.
