From a letter to a friend who is a teacher, but who said about himself "I'm not much of a salesperson." I just had to disagree as follows:
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Well, here's the cold hard facts: if you are planning to make any money other than 'job money' you have to learn sales skills. Thankfully, you already have them from teaching. I don't differentiate teaching and selling. With teaching, you are getting paid to 'sell information' to the students. You have to convince them that what you are teaching is correct and you're trying to get them to retain it. With selling, you're teaching them about a product or service and you are convincing them that it will fill a need. In either case it takes people skills, speaking skills. It's just that on one side (teaching) your salary is capped and you get more vacations (maybe) while selling can give you greater financial gain but involves usually a learning curve and other things. Catch my drift? So I think the main question that you need to answer is not whether you are to be teacher or salesperson but more what are your financial goals and what's the best way to get there. Also, I know lots of great teachers who also have businesses - no contradiction there. In fact, some of the best business owners and trainers are teachers, [because they have the ability to convey information so recipients 'get it'].
B.L.I.P. Heros
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Good revelation. I don't disagree. The ability to teach someone about they benefits of a product will come in handy. The ability to communicate information in a way that the individual will understand.
There are some factors to consider:
1. Styles of teaching and personalities. Some people teach passively while others teach aggressively. Are you easy to listen to or are you empowering or persuasive?
2. Some people are teachers but not very good at teaching. Some teachers are honest and some will lie to maintain authority.
3. Teachers are generally regarded as someone to respect and people to whom we naturally listen. The stigma about a salesperson is that he's out to get you, and people generally come guarded or have a pre-determined idea.
4. The other Mr. Taylor is missing.
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