As a medical director, there are many commitments, roles and responsibilities I have.
It reminds me a little of being a mother. Being a mom of six kids, I am always juggling all the things and finding those special individual moments to impact, offer support, solve a problem or cheer them on. I also spend lots of time negotiating and coaxing them in directions I hope to see them go.
- I am a mentor
- I am a teacher
- I am a problem solver
- I am a coach
- I am a cheerleader
- I am a salesperson!
Wait. What? A salesperson?
Daniel Pink, author of To Sell is Human: the surprising truths about moving others, explores and provides insights claiming that most of us work in sales. Whether we are cajoling children to study, enticing funders to invest or pitching a new idea at work, we are inherently all in some fort of sales position.
In aesthetics, this is a challenging notion. Guidelines from the Ontario College of Nurses do not condone upselling and sales pitch practice in our industry. We don’t want to be considered a profession that is always trying to close a deal.
I don’t sell minivans in a car dealership or bound from office to office presenting cholesterol drugs to physicians. That is not my calling or my style.
But when I am not sleeping or dealing with my self-care, such as exercise or hygiene, the truth is that I do spend significant portions of my days trying to coax others to part with resources.
If, as nurses, we kept track of the meetings we attended, the conferences we endured, the posts we made, the emails and tweets and text messages we responded to, the patient encounters and family visits we participate in, the truth is we are a salesperson.
At the core of your heart and soul: you are a salesperson.
That’s not necessarily easy to hear or digest. Reading that, it might be tempting to dismiss it. A person in sales has the reputation of being one step up from the devil himself.
You may be a nurse with a needle for injectables in your hand. You sell.
You may be working at the bedside of a COVID patient. You sell.
Nurses and many health providers are, in some form, in a sales role.
Daniel Pink addresses this common uncomfortable idea with a fresh new perspective about being in Sales.
Sales is the ability to move others to exchange what they have for what we have. It is critical to our survival or happiness for our species to evolve, our daily lives be enhanced, and our living standards to be advanced. To do it effectively, Pink describes that in any business, you need to understand another’s perspective, make your message clear and persuasive, and help your clients practically see your ability to change their world for the better. It doesn’t have to be sleazy or smug to do that.
Moving others to a better state is good for all. Helping others to achieve their goals allows everyone to live abundant and more fulfilling lives.
Just think. You have the power to give them that. Go sell.
