SELL YOURSELF
Hi, hope you didn’t get confused or irritated by the post
heading. If you were, you’re probably not conversant with business terms and
you really need to. Also if you thought I didn’t mean “selling yourself”
literarily, then let me tell you a short story. Pay a bit more attention now,
would you?
Ok, so I was driving down to the bank some time ago and I was
caught in traffic. Of course I’m a Nigerian who lives where ‘everything’ is
sold on the road... or rather in traffic. Perfumes, books, newspapers, shoes,
belts, décor materials, shades and recommended glasses, probably building
materials too… Lol!
But thing is, this newspaper guy kept walking back and forth my
car, looking at me like I had promised him I was going to buy a newspaper when
next our paths crossed. He came around again, pressed the newspapers to my
window but I wouldn’t budge. I’m not much of a newspaper person to begin with
(when I have my internet connected phone) and I’m not old (yes, I’m one of
those who believe newspapers are for old men. Bite me!).
I just kept on driving. I got to the bank, carried out my
transaction and just as I walked back to my car, a man approached me. I
couldn’t tell if he came out behind me or he had been outside before. He was
neatly dressed – Shirts tucked into his pants and black (though very dusty)
shoes and I kind of like his wristwatch.
“Good morning sir, have you had your daily read of what the
papers are saying today?”
I’m not kidding when I say, only at that point did I realize
he was holding newspapers. Before I could reply, he flipped them out like they
were cards and asked which of the headlines caught my interest.
“Err… I have my… err… I read news on my phone” I replied
slightly waving my phone.
“Of course sir but busy people read the papers since papers
just pick out the points from the detailed version on the internet and
summarize it to fit their page limits. Reading papers seem old fashioned but
it’s actually time-saving.”
“Are you for real?” I asked wide eyed.
“Here, take this Punch paper. It’s just N200. Compare it to
the one online when you get home.”
I took out my wallet and paid the man, and off I went.
The story doesn’t end there, but let me quickly say that
selling yourself is one way to ensure that success is achieved in your business
or interview. Have you ever gone for an interview and see someone dress like
they’re about to audition for MTN Project Fame? That’s strictly bad advert.
When pitching sales one-on-one, the first thing the prospect buys is “You”.
With full emphasis, I’m saying no one would buy your product if they can’t buy
your persona. Have you ever seen marketers dress shabbily when they need you to
open an account with their firm or subscribe for something? No!... Why? Cos no
one would take your product serious if you don’t look as serious as your
product.
Selling yourself doesn’t necessarily mean imposing yourself
on people. As a matter of fact, you wouldn’t even need to impose yourself when
you’ve already ‘appeared to be accepted’. One of the very important lessons in
selling/marketing is how to sell yourself to a prospect after which the product
follows and you can easily convert pitching to sales.
So, back to my story (You can like stories and gossip. Go
away!)
Later that evening, I took my ‘once-in-a-blue-moon’ purchase
to enjoy while lying on the bed. I first of all went through all the ‘colored’
adverts (Is that childish?) before adjusting my pillow to give it a
cover-to-cover perusal. Hardly had I finished reading the sports column (I read
newspapers from the back like it’s a Quran) that my mistress, ‘Mistress Sleep’
took me off and that was the last time I touched that paper.
I sighted the paper while dressing up the next morning, and
the thought of taking the paper back to get a percentage refund crossed my mind
since I knew I wasn’t coming back to it but on the more serious part, I asked
myself why I didn’t buy from the guy who pressed it in my face earlier, only to
go ahead and purchase ‘the same’ newspaper from the other corporately dressed
seller.
In the second part of the post, I’ll share exactly what I
thought tilted my decision and five (5) important things to note while selling
yourself to achieve sales and growth for your business.
See you soon.
Cheers!
Mature Minds Talk.
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