Do You Need to Be A Salesman To Work In Extension? Are some people just born good salesmen? Is it a skill you can learn easily or do you need to go to school for years to learn how to sell things? As I read the responses from 12 people who are considered successful salespeople, I felt that attitude is just as important as skill. Having a positive attitude about selling as well as the desire were two necessities to the sales industry. Some of the comments made from these successful salespeople were keys to overall success. "No matter what you sell, you've got to sell satisfaction," was the lesson for Stanley Marcus of Neiman Marcus. "Selling is a lot like seduction....it requires passion and emotion," says Mark Jarvis of Worldwide Marketing. Tom Scott of Nantucket Nectars has an approach "to tell it like it is," which he says sounds simple, but not everyone uses that approach. Marilyn Carlson Nelson of the Minneapolis based Carlson Companies describes selling as "proving that you're a good match for your customer and then backing up your claim with facts." This list goes on and on about philosophies of sales. I did read one comment that struck me badly about sales when viewing the University of Minnesota Extension Service. Guy Kawaski of garage.com says "It's simple: sell to people who want your product; ignore those who don't." I couldn't agree with that sales attitude becuase I don't think there are very many people out there who know what they want, let alone who offers it. I don't believe everyone knows what they want or need all the time - or maybe the circumstance isn't right at that moment. Using Extension as an example, our user group is often based on history, or past experiences. Many times our new users or clientele, tell of how they "happened upon us" and didn't know we were there. With the natural disasters we have faced in Minnesota in the past two years (floods and storms) Extension has been a resource only recently discovered by many. they didn't know what we had to offer, but when they had needs, we could help them. We can't quit selling, just because people don't seem to need us as much today as they might have in the past, or will again in the future. Another good lesson for Extension in Minnesota regarding sales comes from Mark Bozzini of Linkexchange, Inc. who learned it's always worth remembering "clients don't really care about your stuff. They care about THEIR stuff." In the Extension Service, that's often what prompts people to call, because they have a need. It might be about their crop or livestock operation, it could be a household concern, or something to do with their drinking water - to name a few. They are looking for a solution, idea or technique they can use. My sister-in-law works for the South Dakota Extension Service and she commented on the sales job they currently need to undertake. With changes in how Extension looks, they need to sell to residents that they will be providing the same service, just done in a different way. She said despite the concerns among staff to the changes, they need to portray a strong image to convince people to continue to use the Extension Service as a resource. A former co-worker in Extension stated that one of the reasons she left Extension was because internally Extension wasn't doing a good job of selling what they are all about. She found it difficult to sell the Extension Service mission to others, when she wasn't sure if the whole Extension Service knew what it wanted. She finally decided that it was better for her to move on than to struggle selling something she was unsure of. I believe in Extension, we need to take a look at our sales approach. I'm not convinced we've been successful in selling our services to all our potential customers. I know some of the sales are done by people in each county, and the approach and attitude are very different, but the future success of the Extension Service is based on the sales pitch everyone in Minnesota receives.

-- Anonymous, December 29, 1998