What Dating Can Teach You About Sales

Published: May 09 2014

Dating and sales are pretty much the same thing. It’s a bold statement, I know, but stay with with me.

When it comes to modern dating, the dance goes something like this; Find someone you like. Check them out online and see if you have stuff in common. Try to strike up a conversation and see if they like you too. Get rejected. Repeat.

We continue this pattern until we find someone who likes us back and then we hold hands and skip down a happy little path of wildflowers.

Sales is pretty much the same thing. In dating, I learned to hear no... A lot. I also heard, “Yeah, I like you, but I’m not sure if I’m ready for commitment”. In sales, that’s basically someone saying that they know they need your product or service, but it’s just not in the budget or they are too busy to really consider it right now. For me, this isn’t a no. No is no. This is simply an opportunity to stay in contact and prove that I am the one they need. Some may even say it’s a challenge and I say, “challenge accepted!”

Like dating, sales is all about communication and confidence. None of this, hard-to-get, call you next week stuff. I’m interested and I'm awesome - you need to know that. You need to believe in what you have to sell, whether you are selling your wares or your are selling your winning personality. And until you tell me no or that you are seeing someone else and you are really happy in your relationship, our future marriage is a definite possibility.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to seem like a crazy cat lady (though I do have a cat and her name is “Kitty” and she is awesome!). I’m not going to call you every day and send you an email on the weekend. But I am going to follow up 2-3 days after I give you my phone number and then every week thereafter until you turn me down or it becomes really obvious that you don’t want to go for dinner and a movie.

Basically, it’s all about persistence. And I’m a big girl. I can take it if you tell me that I’m not your type. If anything, you’re setting me free so that I can focus my time and attention on cultivating a relationship with someone else. Someone who needs me. Someone who I can share goals, hopes and dreams with. Someone that I can help support and build a long relationship with over the years.

But you know what? Sometimes this persistence pays off and the person you are trying to date/sell to sees your value and understands that you can offer them something more. They get it. They get that you want to help them be better and that you are capable of doing it. And that makes all of the No’s totally worth it.

Of course, sometimes people are just jerks and you date the wrong person for a little bit too. That happens. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move on to the next lucky guy or gal. You’re awesome, they just don’t know it yet.