Fay’s Story    

I’m just not good at sales. It felt like coming out of a dark room into the blinding light.

I’d been on a sales call, speaking to a potential client, trying to sell him an “all-in-one” package. I was offering to write his emails and set up the tech in the background to make sure each email was being sent to the right customer at the right time. I thought it was a pretty good deal, but the guy on the line apparently didn’t. I was using a sales script, trying to follow what I was “supposed to say,” and he wasn’t buying it.

“You’ve asked me enough questions,” he said gruffly. “Would you like to tell me how you can help me?”

Whoa! I felt like I’d just been punched in the gut, and I struggled to get to my feet again. Shame rose from my stomach to my face. Somehow, I fumbled through the rest of the conversation, but I realized then that I just couldn’t get the sales thing down pat, even with the script — and that without it, I was lost.