My Second Lesson in Selling

In my last blog post, I spoke about my first sales manager, the finest selling machine I have ever had the pleasure from which to learn.

We now move to my second greatest sales manager. A guy who was a cross between Fred Astaire and Jack Welch. He defined smooth. From his dress to his British pipe there was not a person or company he could not establish a comfortable environment with…each time, every time!

I’d watch him in social settings work a room like Bill Clinton, able to synthesize each person’s goals and challenges deftly at the end of the evening.

He once admitted to me that he was actually a selfish kind of a guy but consulting taught him there is NO ROOM for this behavior. He realized early on in his career, a lot like my universal mentor, Dale Carnegie, that it was smarter to be more interested in people before being/sounding interesting to them.

I’ve never forgotten this.

His selfless behavior affected me greatly. I began to put myself aside and approach people and situations with the desire to learn something versus sell something. It’s funny, even today, every time I do that, I’m able to present myself exactly the way I want from this behavior I learned.

Try it and let me know.

Stay tuned next week for my third greatest mentor!