If there is one skill that should be taught in every school, it should be “selling.” In my experience over the last decade, one’s ability to sell is probably the most important skill of all. For a career person, you must sell yourself to prospective employers, sell yourself to your boss within the organization you end up working for, sell yourself to prospective customers of your organization, and, the real kicker, rise to become the head of the company and spend most of your time selling the company to everyone who will listen, including the people who now work for you.


So, if you ask me what the most important thing, I have learned about selling is, I will tell you it is trust. Trust is the cornerstone of any relationship, especially in sales.

The secret to selling is that people are not just buying what you are selling; they are buying into you. You are the product being sold. It’s not your fancy product or service that seals the deal. It is you — an authentic you that fully shows up.

From my experience, everyone you are selling to is silently asking three big questions:

Do I like you?
Can I trust you?
Can you really help me?
The first question is about likability. The second is about relatability. And the third is about reliability. When you put all three aspects together, you end up with the emotional vibe your sales prospect feels about what you are selling. In the case of your career, that would be yourself. How the individual feels about you is, well, everything.

So, what are some things you can do to become better at selling yourself? For starters, ensure you are putting the person’s interests above your own. It will open your eyes to what truly matters to the person you are interested in selling to. Secondly, listen very closely and actively to what is being said, paying close attention to the motivations behind every statement. That is your key to understanding what truly matters to the person and in that situation. Finally, be confident. Own why you are in the room and why you are speaking to that person. Be present enough and confident enough in the value you possess to impress upon the person you are selling to that you know your business and can back up whatever promises you are making. To cap it all, always deliver on your promises. In the rare times you make a mistake (hopefully, you don’t keep making mistakes and errors), own up to the mistake and fix it immediately without making excuses.

If you do these things, you will become a much better salesperson for the most important product there is: yourself. Go forth and sell confidently. Your future depends on it.