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Perception, meaning, understanding, delusion, ignorance, amazement……. These are just words. One who reads each of these words should derive an emotional response of some nature. Each one of us are unique, but when presented alone without context each word will have it’s consensus interpretation. These words might, but not all.

So here I will present the one word this article will be focused on. When looking at the recent history of humankind, this one, small, 5 letter infant of a word has instilled reactions of horror, love, inspiration, abandonment, indifference, excitement, accomplishment, creation, destruction, and about every other possible expletive for a reaction any emotionally based creature such as your breathing consuming self can have.

Now…..take a deep breathe……clear your thoughts….. and be prepared for the unveiling of this momentous and history changing word that IMHO has been the single factor in shaping the way the world is today, no matter whether you view that to be in a positive or negative light……..and that word is “Sales”. Don’t close that browser yet!

Why the long winded lead up to a common everyday word you may ask? Am I trying to “sell” you something with this post? Nope, no products, no services, just wipe away the expectations, any negative experiences, and just think about that word for a second and what it means to you. Take a moment to view and compare your thoughts to the different literal meanings of the word sales. Also, please take into consideration that it is 3 in the morning right now, I am the Sales Manager for the world’s largest wholesale domain Registrar, and I just can’t sleep

Maybe it was the fact that today, and for the second time, I have been introduced by one of my senior level co-workers as an Account Manager. Is this because that person is unaware of my title or just forgotten it? Definitely not, this individual’s intelligence I would never question since I have personally witnessed a portion of the brilliance he/she (No finger pointing here) is capable of. I have even had a further descriptive thrown where I have been artfully described as a Farmer and not a Hunter in my relationship with my clients in a further attempt to shamefully kick the can and hide the word …..sshhhhhh …..”Sales”.

When I questioned this introduction I have been offered the explanation of the fact that the unanimous view and feedback from our clients is that they do not like to be sold, whether we agree or not with their perceptions, this is the case.

I thought about that for awhile, does this mean that they grudgingly log into their ordering interfaces through a web browser and purchase our products and services with a gun pointed to their head? Are they fending off their client’s request’s as they clamor up the path to their office with pitchforks and torches screaming “GET ME MY DOMAIN NAME!”. Do they place their orders while they curse the name of the supplier that has two heads and forces them into a situation where they MUST purchase something and be “sold” a product or service against their will by the evil bovine aggressors?

Maybe….but I hope not.

I'm not sure what view of society our clients have as this is a very internal interpretation of the world around them and can only be surmised through intimate conversations on a personal level of which I have only had rare opportunities to carefully explore with some long-time clients. Remember Sales 101? NEVER discuss Politics or Religion with a client!

What I can do is explore my interpretation of the world around me, and all I can see is consumption. I see shopping malls, I see huge discount stores, I see restaurants, automobiles, houses, clothing stores. These are all the establishments we go whenever we receive any compensation for the work we do and are derivitives of the commodity based society we live in. I acquire personal satisfaction and gratification from the work I do, but let’s face it, a fuzzy feeling doesn’t taste all that great with ketchup! We work in order to be able to consume, we live in a society bent on buying more than your neighbor and are brought up that way, this is what capitalism is, free market competition.

The ONLY truly non-consumer based individual, or person who does not REALLY want to be sold anything is someone who barters for the things they cannot hunt or create themselves, and is a rarity in even the third world countries that exist today.

WE LOVE TO BE SOLD! So why do some people get a prickly sick clammy feeling every time they hear the doorbell ring and see a man with a vacuum standing behind it?

I quote a couple of idioms of the word “sell”:

sell a bill of goods Informal
To take unfair advantage of.
sell down the river Informal
To betray the true trust or faith of.

Yes, very very bad….have I ever sold a product or service that did not meet the highest standards of ethical or moral belief for a value not greater than it may be perceived by the general populace? Have I ever prescribed to the belief of Caveate Emptor? You may draw my answer from one of the most famous people in recorded history:

“Let him who is without sin cast the first stone”

Have you ever exaggerated in your life to accomplish a goal? Have you ever made a statement to delude or dissuade someone’s belief for what you believed to be the greater good? If you said no to either of these questions then you have never t(s)old your children about Santa Clause or the Tooth Fairy.

Sold – Told
Sell – Tell
Sale – Tale

Interesting isn’t it? Why is this simple word so similar to the descriptor of communication? IMHO it is communication, just a more effective means. Anyone who has had their own company and raised capital has sold investors on their ideas or plans. This means every CEO or President in today’s society. Why are these people chosen? One primary reason is their ability and talent at the fine art of communication.

An associate asked me recently why I do not invest in the stock market. He knows I have a great understanding of how it works, more than the average investor anyways. I have had my own company and been involved in a couple of start-ups so raising seed capital and looking at options for taking the company public were two areas I definitely had to focus on. With the burst of the bubble in 2000 my dreams were dashed, that happens, oh well, I am stronger for it, but I digress with that rant and I’ll save that for another day

I told him why I would NEVER invest in a company that I did not have complete control over, and this is something any stock broker who promotes mining stock on a Canadian exchange may not want you to hear, so if you have sensitive ears, or are a former Bre-X shareholder please skip the following paragraph:

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS AN ABREVIATED DESCRIPTION DESIGNED TO COMMUNICATE AN IDEA SO MAY BE CONSIDERED A SELLING TACTIC!!! IT IS DERIVED THROUGH EXPERT TESTIMONY FROM INDIVIDUALS IN THE MINING INDUSTRY

Back in the late 80's, any mining company who was looking to raise capital in order to drill a prospective property to see the amount of gold or silver or other precious material for the later development of a mine, first creates a prospectus based on a Geological Survey. This document is similar to a business plan and is used to “sell” investors on providing capital to facilitate the drilling attempt. A geological survey may consist of many components including but not limited to surface samples that are analyzed for mineral content, expert testimony from a Geologist that did a survey on a particular property in order to calculate the potential of a find and qualify the investment amount. This would be the majority of the basis for the prospectus used to raise sometimes millions of dollars to initiate drilling operations on a particular location or locations to acquire core samples for the “proof” of the potential of a particular property. Something that is never written is the fact that you had absolutely NO way of judging whether one location had a specified potential amount of minerals over another until you actually drilled it, and your geological survey has about the same amount of a chance of predicting this outcome as if you went to your local Fortuneteller and paid him/her $10 to sign the damn prospectus instead of the Geologist. In terms of the idioms above, a geologist who signs these “surveys” is more of a salesman that I am, and I have been excelling in this field for over 10 years.

This can be applied on a lesser or greater level for any start-up in most industries from what I have seen. There is no way to definitely tell what the potential of a specific company is until they implement the business plan. It is all pretty much a dog and pony show, and unless I can personally speak with that CEO on the telephone or in person to judge their character, I would never invest.

So beware the SALES voodoo! Do not believe anything you hear! Never buy anything again! Marketing is not shunned like sales because it’s not some sleazy sales person trying to force a set of encyclopedias down your throat! It has to be truth if it is in a TV commercial or in a magazine, just not when a real person whom you can judge and perceive communicates it effectively to you!

I hope I have entertained you with my rant today, and I also hope that the next time you hear that someone is selling something, you don’t immediately run for the hills and think about it for a second first. You may realize they are just trying to communicate what they truly believe is an opportunity for you in an effective manner………pssssst….. “buyer beware”