Selling is NOT a 4-Letter Word

Having spent twenty-five years selling I learned to embrace the word sell a long time ago. I've called it an art, a skill, and a game. To me selling is really the telling of a story with the intent to persuade someone to do something.  Our economy and our livelihoods depend on selling.Without selling there is no buying and therefore no exchange of money.

Which is why I find it surprising in my post corporate life the reaction I get from non-professional salespeople when you suggest they need to sell. They react as if I have just uttered a 4-letter word. 

Entrepreneurs who have brilliant ideas, are starting new ventures, and are full of passion and enthusiasm become terrified when they hear the word 'sell'. Writers who say they want to write but live in denial that in today's day and age the responsibility for their books getting sold rests with them. And then there are the people re-entering the job market or looking for their next position. When I suggest they need to prepare to sell themselves to their prospective employer they cringe. A look of panic washes over their face. Some  physically recoil or break out in a sweat. They see it as sleazy or manipulative. Something they don't want to do, maybe even something they think they don't have to do.

We all sell.

Even when I explain that we all sell, every day whether or not we are aware of it they tell me they think selling is sleazy and manipulative and not fitting with their character. They think Herb Tarlek from WKRP in Cincinnati. Use the word marketing and they rest a bit. Now they're thinking Don Draper in Mad Men. That sounds sexier to them. But the truth is marketing and selling are all intertwined. 

Can it be taught?
They will argue as many will that selling cannot be taught. That it is an inherent attribute. You either know how to sell or you don't. You either have a talent for it or not. 


To a degree they're right. Being a really good salesperson is being a really good storyteller and requires a gift. And just as some are more predisposed to having a killer tennis serve or playing Beethoven's Fifth, some are more so to selling.


But that doesn't mean you can't learn how. People who play tennis are not limited to those who make it to the US Open nor are piano players limited to those who play at Carnegie Hall.


Selling is NOT a 4-Letter Word

If you have ever persuaded someone to do something or ever gotten someone excited about something you have sold them. There is nothing revolting about that. In fact it can be a lot of fun !


We all sell. Everyday. We sell our products, our services, ourselves. Which is why in today's noisy environment it is more important than ever to understand how to take the basic tenets of sales, apply them to our 24/7 social media crazed world and still be authentic.   


That was the reason behind designing my four week webinar. And it is why I think that if you want to be a success today you have start by learning that selling is NOT a 4-letter word.

Do you think selling can be taught?
Does the word sell make you cringe?
Do you believe selling is more an art or a game?

My next Selling is Not a 4-Letter Word, The Basics starts April 20. For more information or to register click here!

The Walgreening of Duane Reade

Anyone who has ever traveled to South Beach with me knows of my fascination with the Walgreen's on Lincoln Road. No matter what hotel I am staying at I feel the need to stop in Walgreen's at least once if not twice a day. Sometimes it is with purpose and sometimes just to wander the aisles for a few minutes before calling it a night. I am fascinated not only with the diverse clientele, but with the array of items you can purchase, beach hats, cookies, bananas  and flip flops, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

OK, so maybe it sounds a little crazy, but I've always considered that particular Walgreen's to be part of the tourist attraction of Ocean Drive.

Anyway given my thing for Walgreen's on Lincoln Road, you would think I would be happy they now own Duane Reade. You would think I would be happier still that they are in the process of renovating my most visited Duane Reade to resemble Walgreen's. But I'm not.

At first I thought it was because every time I've walked in there in the last few weeks they have rearranged the furniture. Trust me.  I am not exaggerating. No one seems to be able to make up their mind where everything is going.

I thought  I was just annoyed  because finding a box of Kleenex became a scavenger  hunt that even the workers had trouble solving for me.

But now I know it's something different. It may still (very smartly I might add) say Duane Reade outside, but it's not anymore. Maybe it's a little too clean, a little too bright. Maybe it's a little too organized. Or maybe it just looks a little too suburban Midwest to be sitting on Broadway.

It doesn't even resemble my favorite one on Lincoln Road. And even if it did, I don't want to be able to buy a pair of cheap earrings in Duane Reade much less a pair of socks. This is Manhattan. You don't  go to Duane Reade to buy earrings or socks when you live in New York!  It's a drugstore. Or it was. But then that's what Walgreen's started out as too.

I understand the brand new one on 72nd and Broadway above Trader Joe's now sells beer.  You would think there would be a law against selling prescription drugs and beer under the same roof. They must get around it by requiring you bring your own growler for the beer.  My guess is if you've forgotten yours they can be found sold  separately somewhere else in the store. Maybe near the Kleenex so you can have them handy if after a few sips of beer you decide to start crying over all this change.

I know you're reading this and thinking, isn't this the woman who likes change, whose coaching practice specializes in change?  Is this her complaining about a change? The answer is yes, but I am also  a New Yorker, and as much as we like change, we are creatures of habit in other areas, especially when it comes to our neighborhood conveniences.

Now if in the process of Walgreening the Duane Reade they want to bring some change no one will complain about, they might want to start with the price of a roll of toilet paper. I checked yesterday and that was still at the Duane Reade price of $1.49 a roll.

The Bird Sisters

If you're not familiar with Goodreads and you like to read I suggest you sign yourself up. Goodreads is a social network for readers with a mission  "to get people excited about reading." Members recommend books, compare what they're reading, form book clubs and occasionally get lucky like me and win an advance copy of a new book to read which they hope you'll take the time to review.

Which is how I came to read The Bird Sisters. It's the first of what I would guess to be many novels by Rebecca Rasmussen. Have I mentioned how I love reading first novels? Especially in this day and age when publishing houses take so few chances on new writers. It inspires me.

Crown was smart to choose this one. Rebecca is a wonderful writer whose prose set a time and pace that reaches all of your senses. It's one of those stories that you feel physically wrapped in, of two sisters and the events of one summer that led them to grow old together in their childhood home. It is an engaging story about life and the choices we make and one I recommend reading, not without warning you that I found a sadness to it I couldn't quite shake. So I would advise if you are looking for an uplifting, fun read this is not your book.

I''m thankful Goodreads gave me the opportunity to receive my copy. Without them I would have missed two lessons.

The first is how important a book cover is. I've been thinking about that alot lately as I plan my own. The cover  can compel someone to open the book up or pass it by, even on line. I didn't like the cover nor did I like the name Twiss, the younger of The Bird Sisters. So chances are I would not have picked this up and taken it home with me. Which brings me to my second lesson. Say yes to what you might ordinarily not. You just never know what you will find. In this case I discovered a brilliant new novelist whose stories I will now seek out.

My Confession

It wasn't something I was planning on. I had resolved myself that I was done, in fact publicly admitting that I was over it on this very blog. But I knew I might be tempted. From the moment the previews featured her, a real star chosen as part of the cast I knew I could  be broken from my resolve.

She was after all Kirstie Alley. She was funny, she was a celebrity in the traditional sense, she was hardly athletic and she was a woman well over the age of fifty.

But I still didn't seek it out. I just turned on the television last night, ready to head over to Showtime on Demand and watch Sunday's episode of Californication and there it was. Dancing with the Stars. About forty minutes in.  I thought I'd watch for just a few minutes, to see if she had danced yet but she hadn't. So I kept watching. I told myself it would just be until Kirstie performed, then I would change the channel. They must have known because they saved her for last, an hour and twenty minutes after I had first tuned in.

I'd forgotten how addictive the show can be.  Once you start watching, its hard to stop. And now there is Kirstie. Real star entertainment.

I haven't set my DVR yet. It's too soon to tell. I'm thinking maybe I'll watch as long as Kirstie lasts. But if last night's performance was any indication, that could be most of the season. She had the second highest score of the evening, totally rocking, owning her beauty and dancing like the star she is!