What Do You Really Have For Sale?

I've been in sales all my life, literally, I started selling things when I was just 5 years old. I've worked for individuals, companies, and now for myself. Being self employed takes discipline and the ability stay on task. For me, I make a list. If I have to keep in all in my head, my day is spent watching TV, playing on facebook, and talking to friends on the phone. But I digress, let's get back to sales and self-employment. The glove project is primarily a sales job. I had to do my research, and the hands on creating the initial prototype, but the bulk of the journey has been a sales cycle.

You might think you spend your time selling your product, it's features and benefits, and all the wonderful ways it will change the world. My experience has been that what I've really be selling is myself. Yes, it helps when you have to have a good product, but think about "Pet Rocks."

Pet Rocks were a 1970s fad conceived in Los Gatos, CA, by advertising executive Gary Dahl. The first Pet Rocks were ordinary gray stones bought at a builder's supply store and marketed as if they were live pets. The fad lasted about six months, ending with the Christmas season in December 1975. During its short run, the Pet Rock made Dahl a millionaire. I bring up the pet rock because is this product really something needed, useful, and life changing? I think we would all agree, at first blush, the answer is no.

My success has come from my ability to pick up the phone, keep calling when nobody has called me back, maintaining a professional attitude, and doing what I say I will do in every follow-up situation. As long as we are still humans interacting with other humans, the sale will depend on you. Once you have established that you are credible, reliable, and pleasant to work with, you will be able to sell most anything you create, even if all it does is make someone happy, like the Pet Rock did. After all, happiness is clearly needed, useful, and life changing!