Drinking The Kool-Aid

Drinking the kool-aid is a term that was born out of the tragedy of the Jonestown massacre of the late seventies. It has been used since then to describe people who believe a lie told to them by others no matter how absurd. Recently I was reading a post on the Internet that was saying individuals that work in sales were very much drinking the kool-aid. Because in most cases salespeople have to create results in order to be successful. And that making a living that way was nothing more than a pipe dream. 

 While I'm not going to deny that sales is a profession that requires great communication skills and a healthy degree of self confidence. To sit here and type out that all sales positions are a pipe dream and the profession of fools, is missing the point. That most aall business people are sales people in one form or another. That not all sales persons are under-handed and will do or say anything for the deal. The reality is sales can be a challenging and rewarding career you can hold your head up high and proudly say you do. 

 I am a pure cynic at heart, there is no denying it. But with a bit of hard earned wisdom and an open mind, even a cynic like me loves the pure rush of doing sales. My idea is to not convince you that I have a good product, because it is. What I have to do is honestly present you a scenario of what my product can do for you if purchased. By doing that I'm telling the story of what this product does, and by owning it myself I'm saying I believe in it. 

 I can easily be one of those that sits in unofficial judgement of individuals that make a living selling. But honestly we all at one time or another have sold something, rather it was girl scout cookies for our daughters or convincing HR you're the right hire. We've all told a story to sell. 

 I suppose the point of the post is to say, if you are honest and you do the best job you can for your customer. Then don't feel bad about what you do and don't allow yourself to put yourself down. We are all human and we are all fallible, don't let that fact judge you. Sales like everything is a skill, the more you do the more you learn. Also while motivation can be important to selling, so to can pleasure and enjoyment. If you enjoy meeting people and believe in what you're selling, then go ahead and enjoy your kool-aid. 

 Because haters are going to be haters, remember Taylor Swift and a cynic told you that. 
    

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