Why I Hate Sales

[Trey Finley]

I posted on my other blog last month about my strong feelings towards sales in general. I've had to change my perspective on sales as I started a business, and I understand an approach to sales that isn't about "making the sale" as much as it is "giving value to others." Sales as I've seen it is often self-serving, self-centered, and self-aggrandizing. Hearing a theme there?

Bob Burg is a motivational speaker and has this to say on the topic:

"...most of us look at sales backward. We may see it as convincing people to do something they don’t want to do. But it isn’t; it’s about learning what people do want to do and helping them do that. Or, we may think it’s about taking advantage of others—while in fact, it’s about giving other people more advantage."

I'll be frank. "Evangelism" as I was taught it in the 80s reeks of that same "making the sale" approach. In the interests of being constructive, what lessons can we learn from Bob Burg's sales approach that would apply to the way that we as Jesus-followers interact with those who don't know Him?


Adapted from a February 2, 2010 blog post at http://seekthequestion.wordpress.com

[James Nored]

Oh yes. One other thing. We have to show genuine interest in a person. Which means we continue to be their friend and engage them even if they do not show immediate interest.

The more selfless we are, the more we open doors to people's hearts. I would think that this would apply to your business/ministry as well. The more helpful you are to the people on this site and others, with a genuine interest in their lives, churches, ministry, etc., the more that people will turn to that great guy Trey who just wants to help people.

This is the philosophy that we should take in all of life--with our spouses, friends, neighbors, etc.

[James Nored]

Trey, Gen Xers like us are usually a bit jaded about sales. We've seen all of the slick sales jobs and brochures, and we are suspicious of motives. There is a bit of a sales aspect of evangelism, in that both present something that we hope others will want to "buy." Learning to anticipate questions, knowing how to say things, encouraging people to make a decision, all of these things are good.

Evangelism today, however, especially flows out of relationships. Evangelism is not so much a presentation, but an invitation to a journey. It is inviting people to share life together. An invitation to experience the Christian life and community. There is a "try before you buy" culture today, at least in so far as faith is concerned.

This means we must be patient with people, encourage them to participate in the Christian life and mission even before they intellectually assent to becoming a Christian.