Whenever I ask a technical or engineering group, or in fact, almost any group of workers that are not sales professionals the question – “Are you more comfortable selling or serving?”, the answer always leans to “serving”. Many of us feel that “selling” is actually a four-letter word!  I do my job, I do it well, I give everything I have to the customer – and then some.  Don’t ask me to ‘sell’ anything!

Let’s relook at this question through the eyes of a customer that really trusts you.  The most trusted advisors are motivated by doing the next right thing for their customers.  These advisors have a strong competitive drive, not so much aimed at the competition, but in finding new ways to be of greater service to the customer.  They have enough self-confidence to listen to their customers with out pre-judging.  Also attributes of a world class sales professional!

Think about your role as a trusted advisor.  If your customers trust you, they probably also trust the products and services your company offers. It is really your responsibility to show your customers more of those trusted products and services – to help make them more effective and efficient in their markets.  You see you are not really selling additional products and servies — you’re sharing with your customers, procucts and services you trust that will make their lives better.

So are you more comfortable selling or serving?  Sometimes they are the same thing!