Sales Cure All

I just finished reading Daymond John’s interview with Inc. Magazine entitled “Why I Invest In People, Not Companies.” In this interview, Daymond echos many mantras I have embraced as a lifelong salesman and entrepreneur.

One thing he stresses is trust. In order to invest in a company, whether it is on the Shark Tank or any other venue, he needs to trust the entrepreneur. This is true in any venture and I found it to be true in my sales career. Without trust, no deal will ever get off the ground.

Another thing he values is the ability to listen. In my career, I often had my mother’s word reverberating through my brain:  “God gave you two ears and one mouth. Listen BEFORE you speak.” This served me well in my sales career. By listening, you can find the proper questions to ask and thus close the deal. A former sales manager of mine believed any good salesperson should be listening during at least 70% of any sales meeting. This allows you to gauge your customer’s needs and apply them to your offer.

The statement in the interview that resonated most with me is when he said “Sales cure all.” This is a twist on something I have lived by since I first read Tom Hopkins’s How to Master the Art of Selling when I was eighteen. Mr. Hopkins says, “It all begins with the sale.” Think about it. In any organization, whether it’s a car dealership, law firm, or software company, without making the sale, nothing happens. Product doesn’t ship, factories don’t produce product, bean counters have no beans to count, even the janitor has nothing to clean up without that sale; closing the sale drives commerce in this country and all over the world.  Even The Shark Tank would not exist without the sale. Think about it. In any business, without sales, there is no business, or as Daymond says, “Sales cure all.”

Daymond John, author of The Brand Within: The Power of Branding from Birth to the Boardroom (Display of Power) and Shark Tank entrepreneur, will play a part in the fates of four new entrepreneurs tomorrow night.