The Stupidest Thing I Ever Said About Sales

When I got an interview to sell cars at a local dealership, I was excited. I have always enjoyed learning about and working on cars, and I had been selling about 4 years already. I should have had no problem nailing the interview.

It was a cold February afternoon when I went in and I sat across from Sam. Sam was, and still is, the prototypical (and possibly stereotypical) car sales guy. He had gelled hair, wide shoulders, and a constant smirk. If you saw him, you would have expected to lumber through hallways, but it seemed like he was always moving.

At this point in my career, I had already sold over the phone (Stockbroker) and door-to-door (Vacuums, Cable subscriptions & Electricity suppliers.). I had managed a team of door to door salespeople and was comfortable doing the dirty work other salespeople avoided.

This is when Sam asked me a simple question. “Why do you want to sell cars?”

My answer was “I like cars, but to be honest the widget does not matter if you now how to sell.”

I know, it sounds pretty smart on the surface, but this line lead me to have a full breakdown roughly 4 years later.

You see, the widget DOES matter. If you do not care about the product, you will fail.

Period.

Full stop.

I was able to sell most of the other things because I believe in the products themselves. I was able to believe that I was doing some good in the world. I believed in the value.

When I went to a product that I did not care about (Security systems) I fell apart. I failed. It did not matter how many closing techinques I knew or who many rapport building strategies I had. Since I was not convinced, I was abysmal at convincing others.

Make sure, before you take ANY sales job, that you are selling a product you REALLY believe in. Do not focus on what the commission structure is. Sell something you believe in. If you do that, you will make money no matter what the pay plan is.