My first sales job was nothing but a learning curve...I had this depiction of the sales world like I was a door-to-door knife sales men getting in everyone's face until I finally made a close....Quickly that depiction of sales changed... I now see the sales world as endless opportunity. The first "Big Boy" job I had after college was selling tech software. It was also my first experience at selling a CRAP product. Every business I went to had a true need for a virtual tech assistant software, but It hurt me to lie about our product. Saying things like "there is no better product like ours' on the market", made me cringe...It just wasn't true.. I soon realized that if I wanted to sell ANYTHING, I would need to BELIEVE in the product first. So I quit...next, I went on to sell a different software, a sports management software that revolutionized the game of tennis. It was here that I put passion and a belief system behind my sales...You see, I was a tennis player my whole life. I personally realized the issue that our service and product was fixing: the modernization of communication among tennis coaches and their players. This software sold like 'hot cakes' for two reasons. The first being that it truly was an amazing product...the second reason being that myself and the rest of the industry truly believed in the mission that the company had set out to accomplish: growing the game of tennis. It felt like a breath of fresh air...working with people that were passionate, simultaneously making a difference everywhere I went...But I was still doing something wrong. Every time I visited a potential client, I would quickly get out my phone and begin demonstrating the product. I felt that the software was good enough that I didn't necessarily need a 'pitch'...I was wrong. No matter the need for the product or service you are selling, you must ALWAYS SELL YOURSELF FIRST. I could be the most trustworthy person in the world with the coolest product, but that doesn't mean that person receiving the information knows that. Establishing trust with someone before you sell to them will DRAMATICALLY increase your chances of closing. SELL YOURSELF FIRST!