Preface: Eric Anderson is my brother-in-law. He’s the “cool guy” in the family. We started hanging out in college, he went into the Peace Corps in Kenya, then came home, riding a motorcycle from Nairobi, up the Nile, and across Europe. He’s always been involved in extreme sports, racing and motorcycles. First as a driver (winning lots of races like the Baja 1000). Then he moved to the business side of things, running sales in various motorsports companies, founded the Motorcycle Safety Council, started a helmet company and several others. Today, he runs a consulting company, helping some of the leading manufacturers and start ups building their GTM strategies. Here’s Eric.
Why I am Interested in Selling
(or Why I Love Being a Salesperson)
(or Why I Love Being a Sales Guru)
By Eric Anderson
My parents were teachers, so I was automatically a learner—a terrific trait for a salesperson. I
listened (and watched) to what Mom and Dad had to say (and show me) about everything from
world news and home economics to car mechanics and skinning a rattlesnake. As my college
years flew by, I began to realize I may want to investigate teaching as a career too. Afterall, it
would allow me to share my wide breadth of knowledge and experience with others while
leaving me the satisfaction which my parents had obviously felt from teaching 1000s of students
and their two male offspring. Like me, good teachers are also excited to learn something new
every day from whoever happens to be around—students, other teachers, friends, foreign
cultures, or children of course.
Even with a Biological Sciences degree, a secondary teaching credential and a coaching minor,
I ended up organically evolving into a salesperson, then a sales manager, then a VP of Sales
and Marketing of the largest protective apparel manufacturer in the motorcycle industry. I
discovered I could “teach” my clients how my brand and associated product was better through
enlightenment. Luckily, I had a mentor very early on who taught me how to sell the sizzle over
the steak itself. Once again, like my parents, he was my teacher while I looked and listened to
how he did it. His motorcycle industry-specific lesson at the time was “Harley-Davidson doesn’t
sell motorcycles. They sell a lifestyle and happen to offer a wide range of products to fit that
lifestyle.” Wow! That sounded like Phil Knight at Nike saying, “We are a marketing company
that needs products to survive.” Both those quotes turned my head 180 degrees to see how I
could become a salesperson using my personal experiences to weave a personal “story” around
how my brands and associated products have made my life incredibly richer. I honestly never
envisioned myself as a salesperson. I never set out to become one. There were no college
classes or majors on how to become a salesperson—I went to Dale Carnegie classes for that.
After 35 years of selling however, I still don’t look upon myself as a true “hunter/killer
salesperson”—I am still a teacher, a storyteller, an investigator, and a person who listens
carefully. I listen with my 2 ears…twice as much as I talk with my single mouth. I may still be in
a denial-state about being called a salesperson because once hearing I was about to be hired
into sales by the motorcycle apparel company, my co-workers at the non-profit trade association
where we worked told me “You will always be late for the rest of your life.” What? That single
insulting comment made me angry enough to prove them wrong for the next 35 years. I have
never been late for an appointment since, so I finally gave thanks to the person who said it
years later. Oh! And all those decades of selling have made me very appreciative of the role
salespeople have in this world. The sun certainly will not rise tomorrow…unless someone sells
something.
In conclusion, selling for me is not “pushing products.” I don’t just sell to make a living. After
listening to my students carefully, I share my personal experiences, stories, and excitement for a
brand and an associated product, so the they end up buying for similar reasons I truly love it. I
made it his idea to buy it—it was not my idea to sell it. Yes, I am fortunate to offer my services in
an industry where my passion lies. And maybe that’s also why I don’t feel like a salesman
selling to customers—I prefer being called a brand ambassador and a motorcycle product guru
who teaches and enlightens his students. Namaste!
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