Published: 2/8/2025

Hi! This week’s topic is about sales. We would be discussing what sales are, how a sale takes place, when someone is selling, what exactly you are even buying, and lastly, what it takes to sell. So let’s jump right in.

Disclosure: I am not a salesperson by profession, and all the information in this blog is my understanding and opinion based on reading articles/books, watching videos, and real-life experience.

What is sales?

Sales simply refers to a way of exchanging your product or services for money or equivalently valued stuff. We tend to think sales is all about money and financial gain, but that might not always be the case. At the end of the day, sales is about exchanging items among parties that fulfils their respective needs and wants. Each one of us is selling something, either our skill, time, knowledge, labour, etc. Additionally, sales is not some manipulation or persuasion competition; instead, instead It’s an exchange of stuff.

How do sales take place?

If you hear any top salesperson speak on what makes a salesperson better than others, 2 things will always stand out: “Provide value and build trust.”. Let’s understand why this. We know what sales are, but how does a sale take place? What is the core concept that makes or breaks a sale? Answer: “Proving value and building trust.”. Sale is all about exchanging value, but what if the person you are exchanging the stuff with is dishonest or not transparent about the value of the stuff they are exchanging? That is where trust comes into the picture. It makes the other party comfortable getting into a sale in the first place, even before discussing value.

The talk of persuasion or manipulation or being dishonest In my opinion, they are the bad apples that some people use to sell because they lack either in proving value or building trust or both. Hence, to accommodate for the incompetence, they tend to rely on these forced methods. A sale can also be a win-win situation, rewarding all parties involved. Next, what makes a sale is understanding the need or want of the other person. Getting to understand the roots of their motivation to buy, you can structure a good deal and negotiate such that it leads to closing the sale.

What are you even buying?

A short story, Some days back I was passing by a Tata Motors car showroom wherein my attention went on to the decor of the showroom. The decor consists of paintings of a happy male figure with the car next to it or a family happily going somewhere in a Tata Motors car. This got me thinking that the showroom is selling cars but hardly telling or conveying to me the features of the cars or why their car is better than their competitors. Upon some thinking, I realised that maybe the motive is not to sell the car but to sell a feeling of happiness or joy, which they say you achieve when you get their car. They are actually selling “Happiness” to you and making their car a means to achieve that happiness, which to me felt quite brilliant.

Ask yourself, “How much will you pay for a 4-wheel car with the latest features?” vs. “How much will you pay to get that happy feeling for you or for your family?” I think the amount for the latter question would be more than for the former one. This is why you should be asking yourself, “What are you even buying?” a car (first question) or happiness (second question).

What does it take to sell?

Selling is a human thing; you buy and sell to humans, so the experience should involve some degree of empathy, some degree of compromise, and some degree of understanding the motivation of the person behind buying or selling. Try to talk about the value that your product/service adds while keeping the qualities like integrity, honesty, and empathy intact. Please don’t sell a lie and wash your hands afterward; it breaks the trust between the parties and affects any future relationship building. Hence, to summarise, to sell is to provide value while keeping qualities like integrity, honesty, and empathy intact.

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I hope you learnt something in this week’s blog. Please share your feedback as comments or direct messages.

Keep learning. :)