Passionate about Advice
WHAT SELLING MEANS TO ME AND WHY I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT ADVICE
When and I was thinking about what I should write for my first blog, I found an audio journal that I did about two years ago. It was off the cuff, it was raw, but it shows how passionate I am about people and advice. I hope you enjoy.
I've always been a salesman. As a little kid I sold snow blowing services to my neighbours. Today I sell advice. I know some people look at a salespeople as being a negative thing. I think it comes down to your truth and intent of what you sell. If you believe in what you're selling, you have a positive impact and it's ethical, and it provides good to the world, there's nothing wrong with selling.
In all honesty, we're all salespeople one way or another, salesmen and women. Because whatever we do in life, whatever our purpose is or whatever we're trying to achieve, we are selling, because we're telling a story of where we're trying to go and who we want to be. In essence, you're selling that story to people day in and day out. It doesn't mean you're trying to convince them of something or you're trying to make them do something. Really you're just showing what you're passionate about. So for me, ultimately that is sales in a nutshell.
I think what I have discovered is that the important things in life are basic. The actual things that have an impact in our everyday life; happiness, gratitude, passion, vision, doing what you love. If I am selling those things on a regular basis, which I believe I do, then I feel more complete.
I say that because becoming a financial adviser, the interesting thing there is ... I struggle with “financial adviser” as a title, because I don't advise people just on finance or money, even though that plays a huge part in terms of the conversations I have with clients. I believe that I'm selling and advising people on what they truly want from themselves in life, be that wealth, health, or happiness.
Now, it just so happens that I have ... this is interesting, this is coming to me now… I've got right side brain tendencies and left side tendencies, whatever the hell that means. I know I'm a creative person, I've always been creative, always been artistic. I have a passion for music. It's one of the things I'm super-passionate about, and I've developed that over time. And I’ve always had this entrepreneurial, creative spirit of doing different things.
But I've also had this really interesting analytical mind. I've always really enjoyed numbers, even though I would say I'm probably just average in terms of math skills and such. I'm good, but it's more the analytics and the strategy and the deep thinking where I shine. That's totally different from being creative and artistic. What I think really connects with me and why I think I love being in an advice role, is I can bring both of those together. I can be creative and artistic and passionate in the delivery of what I sell, be that life and financial goals. But then I can bring that whole analytical and strategy piece together.
I know I love being in an advice role, because I feel I have a good understanding of what it takes to be financially wealthy, and wealthy being not just money, but feeling fulfilled, being happy. I know that money plays a huge role in people's lives, positive and negative. I think the negative aspects of money need to be discussed more often, because I think this is where I can go real deep and it can be really, really difficult for some people to deal with and the conversations can be very difficult but so rewarding and eye opening. A lot of times people aren't happy because the financial part of their lives are not where they want it to be. It's causing all these other underlying issues in their personal life, work life, business life, what have you – an on-going low level of stress and anxiety that can be so destructive.
So when I sell, I want to sell the following – Are you happy? Do you love what you do? And if not, is the financial aspect of it, is that side of things creating a negative impact? Are you in a job because you make a certain amount of money to live a certain life, but that life is not necessarily what's really driving you or what's important to you and you'd like to do something else? How do we make that happen? Or maybe you are just not fulfilled with your financial life today? And how can you put steps in place, or how can we do things that'll actually help you be more wealthy, happy and healthy? How can I help you do that? How can I keep selling that positivity and that optimism that helps you make it all happen, make it all work together?
I don't go out there selling myself as a financial planner or adviser, or mortgage broker. Don’t get me wrong, those things are important, because they're part of the solution. But what I want to sell is being happy, being wealthy, feeling fulfilled, and understanding how to put all the pieces together. Help create the strategy, and then turning goals into reality. That's what I love.
About the author
Mike Mayrand
Mike helps small business owners and self-employed professionals find freedom with money, life and business coaching that bridges the gap between passion, practicality and profitability.