I'm not a salesman

Much of the business advice given to people these days is that selling is the key to building big business. In very near future, integrity will be the key to building big business.

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What People Sometimes Tell Me

People tell me that I am 'very convincing'.

Some even go as far as saying: 'You are a great salesman Jason.'

If someone calls me a 'salesman', it tends to annoy me very much.

Why?

Because I am not a salesman.

I've never seen selling as a 'thing' in business.

I know this is counter to much of the mainstream business advice one might get in average books on business.

Instead, I've always traded on my reputation and ability to deliver.

Much of the business I've done in my life got paid for after I delivered amazing results.

Results beyond all expectations.

This way people developed respect for me and understood that what I commit to, I deliver.

How Things Work In Business

Nowadays, things seem to have changed quite a bit.

People expect and want 'paperwork' before anything gets done.

Paperwork as 'proof' of validity.

Paperwork as an assurance that something will get done.

That things will get done to high standards.

I often think about £450M+ IT projects, which never got delivered.

They had full paperwork against them though.

They get written about in media.

People get named and shamed and the next thing that happens is that the same company gets hired again elsewhere.

And nobody seems to care or be responsible for it all.

I've never done business that way.

I never will.

It's not right and, in the long term, it's a wrong strategic approach to everything.

I've seen many companies in the past be 'great at sales' and failing few years later in spectacular ways.

Because they couldn't deliver on what they sold.

Honour and Integrity

Everything is business.

My word is my honour.

I always overdeliver and never promise more than I know I can deliver.

A 'salesman' most of the time does the opposite.

They sell people white lies, spin, over promise, hype and glorify.

They also often deploy a load of magical thinking.

NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) to spin your mind into believing the impossible.

Later on they tone things down, spin again, go back on their word, pretend they never said things or argue about nuances of ... the paperwork.

I'm not interested in that.

I never will be.

This is one of the big reasons why I love the idea of Blockchain and smart contracts as well as Design Thinking.

They all need thinking before committing.

Lots of thinking and working things out.

I've always worked that way, because I want to work on things which I know can work.

If it means working in phases, we will work in phases and things will get done.

To a great quality standard.

Better than most, if not the best.

The reason why people tell me that 'I'm very convincing' is because I work things out before I speak.

In an integral way.

If I don't know something, I say that I don't know and that I will find out.

I don't commit before knowing.

This is the reason why I'm 'convincing' and why my 'sales pitch' works, because ... there is no sale it in.

It's one thing which most businesses struggle with and find super hard to share.

Truth!

Truth is the most convincing and best 'sales strategies' one can adopt.

Tell the truth and see how real creators separate themselves out from the salesmen.

I want to work with real creators who will be in business for long time to come.

Sales people can skip past and jog on.

I've never been one of them and never will be.

So How Do I 'Sell'?

For one to win business they have to make a case for their product or service.

This is completely necessary.

I've found it to be the case that most 'convincing' arguments cover the entirety of the matter.

This is why I often explain lots of things to clients before ever committing to things.

I know exactly what I'm talking about in every kind of business I commit to.

Otherwise I don't commit.

Simple as that.

The reason why I'm 'convincing' is because it is true.

Well researched in both theoretical and practical ways.

My experience is broad and with years of deep observation and contemplation.

I've worked across many industries, on purpose, to know how it works in many realms of business world.

I've seen lots and lots and synthesised it into a sense making picture of the world as it is and as it could be.

The reason why I'm into Integral Theory is a very practical one.

Because without integrity no long term results will ever get achieved.

I play the long game, even if it means that in the short term the answer is ... 'no'.

Published on: 25 Mar 2018