“I hate sales. So pushy. I’m a creator.”
That was my brother’s reaction to my joining a large organization’s salesforce.
I surprised him because I’d spent my life on the “creative” side of small business. Working with excellent teams. Making extraordinary things.
Why was I taking a sales job?
Because I wanted to start a business. Make my own things.
Having interacted with my two previous bosses, I knew I’d need to learn the sales process.
So I joined a sales force.
Within days, I discovered that every executive at this new company had been a salesperson just like I was now.
The company had made a deliberate organizational choice because they knew sales integrated into everything the company did.
I thought back to one particular encounter at my previous company. We produced a beautiful concept for a new client. When the salesperson — who knew this client intimately — suggested a client-requested change, my creative director quipped, “They don’t have the taste god gave a chicken!”
What our team failed to realize was that there would be no chicken without a satisfied client.
Which is precisely why my new organization made sure everyone had “done” sales.
They knew:
The rep talking to the client…
The marketer driving awareness…
The CEO steering the ship…
The coder (like my brother) showing his boss his work…
The new guy looking to get hired…
We’re all in sales.
(Oh, and by the way, that’s how we get to create!)