Can you sell salt water to the people aboard an ocean liner or ice to an eskimo?
Or would you struggle to sell an order of fries at a fast food restaurant?
Me personally, I don’t sell. If someone wants what I have to offer, great! If not, who cares? I’m not placing my value (or salary!) on whether or not a person wants what I have to offer.
Also, what do you think of salespeople in general? Do you find them slimy or are you excited at the prospect of something new and exciting to buy? I personally don’t like being sold to. It’s annoying.
© 2026 – SoulSequel
21 responses to “How good are you at sales?”
People who are driven by perspnal profit alone can be such a pain!
I don’t appreciate high pressure sales tactics, but can deal with them. It can actually be a very interesting psychological “combat”!
Especially if you know what your adversary fears the most, while keeping your fears to a minimum!
I would much rather have a sales person with integrity that extends beyond their wallet!
But because I don’t appreciate such tactics used on me, I can’t hypocritically impose them on others.
So no, I would not make a good classic high-pressure salesman.
@griz I was WAY tempted to say something mean. You opened yourself up. But i don’t want to be that person.
@Jear77
I consider you a good enough friend to have some poking fun with. I hope you do too! But sometimes a poke might accomplish something that pure discussion/debate cannot.
If you ever feel the need to say something unkind, either publicly or privately, I have broad shoulders and good coping techniques.
I think a good merchant should help the customer find what’s best for them.
…but here on earth we have to pray to Dollah, most transferable, most recognized!
So in general I think of salesmen as middlemen that might be able to assist a customer, but who also live here on earth, & therefore must engage in the goofy game.
Though I don’t like to deviate far from honesty, I’m capable of telling people what they want to hear when they are interested in something. I think some people are already sold on something they want, they just want to be told they made the right choice.
Wanna buy a puppy?
@Weenis meh… not that one. (for the life of me, I don’t know why people like such wrinkly dogs!)
@Jear77 Wrinkly as a puppy. When it grows up it won’t have a wrinkly face at all.
He’ll probably look more like this when he grows up. Will be between 80 and 100 pounds.
@Weenis I love dogs… but I’m more the collie, golden retriever, black lab type.
@Jear77
Yeah, these are more of the chill, athletic, smart, not-hyper, will protect you to the death type.
To each his own.
@Jear77
I forgot to add how I am at selling. I think I’m too blunt.
@luftballooneyegouge
I couldn’t sell him. So I cut his ears off.
@Weenis
It’s kinda freaky, but I just saw a sign for AKC Great-Dane puppies yesterday or the day before & was thinking about this thread.
GET OUTTA MY HEAD MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!
I’m with you. I don’t like to “sell” and I don’t like to be sold to.
I used to have a house cleaning and maid service and I hated trying to get new customers. I made up door knob cards to put on the doors of the next door neighbors — saying that I just cleaned house for your neighbor (insert name here) and I have openings in my schedule. Then I gave my name and phone number. ——- If they called me (after talking to their neighbor), I answer the call and set up a date to clean their house. —- If they don’t call, no harm. I made notes on what houses I put the door knob cards on, so as not to bother them again for at least 6 months. After leaving a card, even if the person never called me, if I saw them while I was coming or going from their neighbor’s house, I always said a cheerful, “Hello”. Most all of my clients were found by my door knob cards.
I am not good at selling.
There are fundamentally two types of sales people. Those who see success as closing deals that move a product or service off their “shelf”, and those who provide a product or service to fulfill a need.
A professional product or service provider aligns a fulfillment based on understanding those needs from the perspective of the prospect. The facts are that Eskimos may need ice. Sure, there is a lot of it right outside their door for most of the year, but there are times where they may want to travel to a place where it may not be and there may be opportunities where they may need it to support a specific objective where it isn’t.
A good sales person will understand where THOSE opportunities exist and then be in a position to address those needs.
There are slimy sales people that are good at convincing the weak willed and there are techniques that can be used on them that make it very hard to say no. There are also professionals who focus on real needs and give people real reasons to buy.
The best sales people listen more and talk less. Two ears and one mouth is probably the most basic starting point, from which an effective sales person delivers persuasiveness, for the right reasons.
And lastly, at least as it relates to this response, a good sales person understands the psychology of their prospect, so they understand how to spin up receptiveness and communicate in a way that the prospect will actually hear what they have to say.
I worked in sales, years ago. It really helped me get started in something else (computer security). Similar to the influence I got from rpgs.
Both taught, persistence pays off.
Good sales people must have a good product, however.
You seem to be mistaking criminal confidence tricksters with actual sales.
@five2one i don’t want to be told no 100 tomes before getting a yes. No one can live like that.
@Jear77 “i don’t want to be told no 100 tomes before getting a yes. No one can live like that.”
You do not have to. It is a job choice.
The real ratios, can be different. I was trained in the worst: home improvement. The payout is huge, as they get people to take out a second mortgage. I left that job but learned a lot from it.
I have sold pizzas, was a mainstay, for me. Initially, it was selling over the phone at lunch times. Then, did what was called “five dollar pizza”, and can sell a lot this way.
Sales, you ultimately are selling yourself. People buy into you.
Really, you can do good at sales, but just have to find the right thing to sell.
I have known you for a few years here (again, I change my nick, normally), and you certainly sell your self. Sometimes you can be annoying, but by and large normally your posts and responses are unique and well said or generally brought up.
I forget what you have, if aspergers, maybe difficult to sell. Like now, you seem to take too literal “500 calls to 1 buy” concept. Few things are so difficult to sell. I telemarketed back when that was normal and got very high returns on both charity sales and pizza sales.So, more like 25 to buy on charity sales, every 5 calls or 10 for direct pizza sales at lunch.
I made my most by converting my the old technique of direct pizza sales, to finding factories at lunch time, and hitting up the mall workers.
@five2one selling yourself is essentially prostitution… no matter the product
@Jear77 “selling yourself is essentially prostitution… no matter the product”
You are losing the metaphor, again.
We sell ourselves everyday, to people we know, and do not know. It can be dirtified and made into the one answer of prostitution… but that is dishonest. Most sales are simply based around who is selling it.
Very quick “for instance” is whenever a famous person operates as a spokesperson for some good or service.
Here, you sell your ideas by your own self. And everyone else here does likewise.
Does that make you into some manner of whore? No.
@five2one what if we all are… but don’t realize it?