I've always avoided being involved in sales for as long as I could remember. Even when doing a bit of consulting, I try to avoid convincing the client altogether or at least not pay much attention to it. I've often said to myself that it isn't something am particularly good at, hence my unwillingness to give It a proper try.
However, life often has its own twists and turns and we're sometimes faced with the things we least prepare for. At my office supervisors/low level managers were recently given sales targets irrespective of department. As I struggled with coming to terms with something that I had little experience and an even lower confidence level, with accomplishing, the fighter in me decided to give It the most aggressive push possible.
I did so by reaching out to as many prospects as possible within the shortest possible period. One thing though is reaching out, and the next thing is converting prospects to sales. This was the most challenging part for me until an unexpected but quite pleasant intervention occurred.
My Team, which I supervise and spend the greater part of my day with, has stepped in on my behalf. They've provided a handful of referrals that have yielded positive results. I am grateful to them because they weren't compelled to, and only did so purely out of concern for me.
I've always felt am too soft on co-workers, and perhaps neglect the opportunity to really drive them and get the maximum effort from them. Yet, admittedly, I believe my rather soft stance has endeared a few colleagues to me, and they're often compelled to cooperate with me purely out of respect. I guess people take silent notes on how you treat them is all am saying.