Defer to win sales and do the right things

Spectators along the road.

I'm not a sales person.  I never have been and really don't wan to be.  I want to come into things real and without an agenda; but the truth is that I have one!!!

In a lot of ways I can be compelling and engaging to people and lead them into my direction but I don't want to think of myself as a sales person...but I think I am...I think we all are.

My true self is a a creative technology person (nerd) but I've been learning over the years that selling and influencing decisions is a really key skill.  I'm continuing to try to develop and improve this skill.

I'm currently in a situation where I'm expecting an offer for a job and I want to make sure with the employer that I'm getting a good deal and setting all of the right expectations, protecting myself.  They're trying to sell me their company and this role and I'm trying to sell them myself and my capabilities as a member of their team.  I need to make sure that I'm doing this right and don't want to make any mistakes.  This requires selling.  I think I'm getting better at the language and strategy required to "get what I need" from the other party....this is sales.

Rewind five years ago and I've made some really big sales errors when it comes to employment: I lost a good offer, I've accepted bad offers, etc.  One of the main ways that we as workers encounter sales is in employment.  The employers are selling us to work and we're selling ourselves.

A big part of doing sales right, I think, is deferring action.  By this I mean that instead of "acting now" and jumping on the phone with the person and trying to close them immediately, I need to be slow and thoughtful, and develop a strategy and plan before I act.  I laid awake last night thinking about these issues.  I'm typically a good sleeper but I think I'm giving this issue the proper mental time and energy it actually requires!!

I'm deferring reaching out to the hiring manager until I've had a chance to talk to Jessica about my plan.  She's reasonable and can guide me.  I have a document prepared that I *can* review with the hiring manager but I have to decide if that's the way I'll go.

So I'm currently in deferral mode and waiting for the plan to emerge based on good thoughtful planning and the slow and appropriately-timed inclusion of others into my plan.