Last updated on January 30, 2023
Recently, at the request of one of my colleagues, I bought the Strengths Finder 2.0 book and got the access code for the test. For those who aren’t familiar, you spend about 30minutes answering a bunch of questions about your approaches to life and work, seemingly innocuous things that will ultimately result in the system kicking out five key strengths and talents that you should be focusing on rather than the weaknesses that you’ve been trying all your life to overcome.
I skimmed through the list of categories before I took the test and was sure that I knew what the results would be. Thirty minutes later, I was issued five categories that didn’t match my expectations at all.
Boil them all down to their essence, and my five strengths all shared a common element: Sales.
What? That can’t be right. I’m a writer! “Have you ever even done sales?” my friend asked. And then I thought about it some more. I’m self-employed. I run my own business. The fact is that I’m selling every day.
I sell myself to prospective clients, convincing them that my brain and my experience are the solution to their content problems.
I sell when I present my proposals, because now I have to reassure clients that my brain and my experience are worth the monetary value that we’re now attaching to them.
I sell my writing. Each draft is presented, framed, and designed to assure them that this iteration is what they need, even when their needs are a moving target.
And I sell myself when I present my invoice. It’s my last touchpoint where I can remind them of the quality work they’ve received, and of the excellent working experience that we’ve had together.
If you’ve had any kind of business, the question isn’t whether you’ve done sales; it’s whether or not you’re good at it. The answer to that question is what defines your business success.
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