Business development trades in promises.

Sales. Selling. Sales pitch. How do those words come across to you? Positive, negative, or no charge at all? Studies show that a significant number of people have some bad impression about selling, though most people have no negative association with buying. (See Daniel Pink’s To Sell Is Human for more on this.)

But if you’re to grow your practice, you have to be able to secure new work, and that requires sales skills. I know, you didn’t go to law school to sell stuff (nor did I)… And yet, if you’re uncomfortable in a sales conversation, your potential client will perceive that discomfort and may think you’re uncomfortable with the matter or the client, or even that you’re trying to hide something.

 I’m always on the lookout for alternative ways of looking at  sales, because you must master your comfort with the idea of sales  before you can master the skill itself. And I found a new perspective in a  recent article that you cannot afford to miss.

Here’s a teaser: “What we’re really trading in is promises.” 

Take two minutes to read the post, then five or ten to contemplate its implications. It’ll change your perspective on both sales and client service.