It’s all come down to sales like I knew it would, but hoped it wouldn’t

It’s a good time to start my story although I hoped that I would never have to share it. I’m a private person — I like focusing on inner growth and connecting deeply with others. I also have a lot of big ideas, and I always hoped that I could share them with the world without putting myself out there. My interests includes ethics, psychology, science, business and history, to name a few. I have a knack for systems though, so it makes sense that I started gravitating towards technology.
Like everyone else I had to do something to pay my bills, so I learned web design and then programming at college. Along the way of doing projects for clients I learned about marketing, finance and project management. The one thing I never wanted to learn about though was sales — I never liked sales and was never particularly good at it. In my business, I did great work and got referrals, so it was enough to keep going. Although I would have never admitted it, I knew that it couldn’t go on forever.
By being observant I saw companies around me who had good sales teams deliver far inferior services for a much a higher price than my own. I noticed that referrals were nice, but I ended up with projects that weren’t always the best fit. Worst of all though, no one seemed to notice or care about anything I was capable of doing or what I had to say. Slowly, as my interest in building websites dwindled so did my referrals.
To be honest, deep down I always knew that if I wanted to be successful I would have to get way out of my comfort zone and become a salesman. I would have to cold call and email people, and tell them I had a service or product to fill their need. I used to think that unconscionable — if someone had a need they could ask me whether I could fill it — why would I want to convince them to buy or do something that they expressed no interest in previously?
Over time however, I’ve matured. By trying to understand people I realized that everyone has needs that are always in need of being filled. It wouldn’t be productive to live life asking “hey — do you do x, y, and z — are you a trustworthy to buy from?” That’s why people will often jump when someone approaches them and says “I offer a great service — do you happen to have a need for it?”. Because when you marry the need with that which can fill the need — you have a successful sale.
So I’ve thrown in the towel. I’m going to stop just waiting around for people to come to me and I’m going to go to them. I’m going to start telling people about the awesome services and products I have, and why they should open a dialogue with me about different ideas. So if you see my email in your inbox, a connection request on Linkedin, or even a call — I apologize in advance. I want to meet you, I have what to share, and I know we’ll all be better for it.
