"Sales" has lost its luster as a profession in the eyes of many nowadays. But a Florida State University alum is trying to restore the vocation's reputation.
Cindy McGovern runs California-based Orange Leaf Consulting. Before COVID-19 struck, she was a highly-sought after speaker on the business-motivational circuit where she headlined as "The First Lady of Sales." And her latest book, "Every Job is a Sales Job" is a Wall Street Journal best-seller.
"This book is the one I wish I'd had 25 years ago," she remarked. "I wish someone had handed me this as the guide to the business word when I graduated. And it's funny because I searched and searched for ways to find the message that was in this book in several books and it just didn't resonate with me and I thought, 'I need to help people,' and that's what brought me to write the book."
By the way, McGovern previously lived in Tallahassee while pursuing her doctorate at Florida State University. The basic premise of "Every Job is a Sales Job," said McGovern, is exactly what the book's title implies.
"If you're interviewing for a job, that's sales. If you're negotiating with a client, that's sales. If you're trying to get someone to cover for you so you can run out and grab some lunch, that is also a sales conversation. But we don't call it that and I think it's because of that 'ick' factor of sales where if you say that word, I think of a guy I call 'Tommy Two-Thumbs;' the used car sales guy coming across the lot saying, 'Hey, what's it going to take to get you in a car today?'"
McGovern insisted she's not talking about THAT kind of selling, which is essentially trying to talk people into doing what they don't really want to do.
"I think sales isn't just a business skill; it's a life skill. And it should be taught in high school and college, but it's not. And what we have to do right now is help people realize they're selling every single day. Every interaction is actually just a type of transaction."
A skill that, surprisingly, just about everyone had when they were much younger.
"We were all five at one time, McGovern explained. "Five-year olds are the best salespeople. They're not afraid to ask for what they want. They're not afraid to be singularly focused on that. So it is that life skill that helps you get more of what you want in work and in life, too."
Like so many other aspects of life, however, there are ways to perfect and improve upon those dormant sales skills we had when we were kids.
"But there's a formula to it and that's the piece that's missing. You may be really good at talking to people or have good interpersonal skills. But if you have the formula that sales professionals use, you can get so much more of what you wanted just by applying that. And that's what I go through in the book. I teach my formula of how you can actually take the formulas of sales pros to win at work."
Along with everyplace else. "Every Job is a Sales Job." The latest best seller by FSU alum, Cindy McGovern.
