Life is an ongoing decision tree. Big decisions and little decisions - every day is filled with choices. These choices are everywhere and involve everything that shapes our lives. Whether these decisions involve significant changes in our lives, or simple everyday choices, they all involve the concept of sales. Each and every turning point involves a decision, whether it's choosing which television program to watch during that prime time slot, which fast food restaurant to patronize at lunch, whether to change job directions, get married, or purchase a house. All these choices necessarily imply the consideration of and weighing of alternatives. Those alternatives are presented to us in many different ways: opinions of friends, family and strangers, advertising, history or experience, emotional appeals, and so on. There are a lot of ãsales peopleä out there trying to influence us! Value, convenience, long-term versus short-term benefits, trust and service: all of these concepts and others which we use everyday as sales people are concepts that we, ourselves, are being bombarded with daily.

Many people identify themselves with their career. Consider, however, that you are not just a sales person! Even if you have built a career in sales, you have probably spent most of your life on the other end ÷ as a buyer. And, you will continue to be primarily a buyer. Be sensitive to the multitude of times when you are the buyer. The ability to put yourself in the buyerâs shoes and evaluate how choices are presented to you and how you react will enhance your skills as a sales person. Realize that you really donât have to actually put yourself in those shoes ÷ you need only recognize those many, many times when you are indeed the buyer!  You donât need to ãwalk a mileä in the buyerâs shoes to gain empathy, insight, or knowledge with respect to a buyerâs position and perception. You need only look down at your feet! You are wearing those shoes!   Look beyond the sales you hope to close. Look at the world around you, and learn from your lifelong role as buyer.