Post #81 How Selling Applies to you
Why would you, an engineering student, need to sell your services? I will talk about what it means to sell your services and why it is essential to your journey. You will also want to read Post #75, How to Influence Others. It is an excellent complementary blog post offering insights into the power of influence.
What is Selling?
For our purposes in this discussion, ‘selling’ will be used as a generic, umbrella term. One way to define selling is the ability to get others to do what you want them to do. Another perspective is that selling is the process of influencing others. It is the power of persuasion. Selling your services is the art of creating a defense to explain why you did what you did. It includes the ability to interview and receive a job offer. Selling is asking and receiving. Perhaps one day you will have to sell your boss on why you made certain choices. The ability to sell is rampant in your everyday life. I recommend you take time to decide which selling tactics work best for you.
How Selling Applies to you
Here are synonyms to selling: persuade, lead, generate, convince, convert, influence and direct. Some or all of these terms are present in your daily living. They exist in your life now as an engineering student and they will follow your life’s journey. You don’t have to be a professional “salesperson” to harness the power of selling. The requirement for you to sell your services, whether in terms of asking favors or leading a team, will never disappear. The ability to influence others and the ability to do it with maturity and confidence will carry you far. I recommend the following to help you sell your services.
How to Become Better at Selling
First, always treat others with respect and kindness despite your emotional status. You never ever know when your colleague, enemy or cubemate may become your boss! And as an aside, treat ALL people kindly. Second, work hard to build your self-confidence (see Post #61). You cannot expect others to listen to you if you don’t respect yourself first. Third, get a grip on your emotions. Do not take your frustration out on the innocent. Take control over your emotions by:
1) identifying what you are feeling and why
2) asking yourself if these feelings are serving a worthy purpose
3) allowing negative emotions to linger until they go away (don’t react)
4) always making decisions and speaking from a positive state of mind
For additional tools and brain exercises to help you manage your COVID-19 circumstances, visit my YouTube video: Managing Student Life During COVID-19