What I learned about sales from rap music.

I could never decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life (and still can’t)- but I was sure of one thing: I didn’t want to be in sales. The closest I ever got to sales was trying to push the lobster special while waitressing in college. If a job description even mentioned commission or “business development”- I was gone. I’ll stop now, but to be clear- I really hated sales.

I majored in entrepreneurship in college and had multi-million dollar startup visions. I am great at conceptualizing businesses and getting them running, but when it came time to “pitch” anyone, I got those obscene sales-y type vibes and called it quits. The thing no one tells you in college is that building a startup is pretty much all sales. You have to convince your early team to join your company, you need to sell your vision to customers and investors, and it’s crucial that you project that Wolf of Wall Street energy to keep confidence up.

Wolf of Wall Street scene

I am very “left-brained” meaning I am more logical than I am emotional. So, when I look at a problem, I analyze the quantitative elements and determine what the probability of success or failure might be. Several studies show that the number of opportunities accessed is directly correlated with the number of sales closed. In other words- the more leads you have the more sales you will make. The problem is, I was always creating…