Sales and leadership have much in common. If you’re in sales, you must be effective in leading. As a seller you are always leading your “customer” somewhere, providing a solution, product, service, or experience, and ultimately, a seller, must earn the trust of their customer. If you’re in leadership, you must be effective in selling.  You can’t be a leader if you don’t know how to sell. As a leader you are always selling your “followers” your vision, mission, values, strategy, ideas, and ultimately, a leader, too, must earn the trust of their followers. What we can say is that to be effective in sales, it takes influence. And to be effective in leadership, it takes influence. Influence is not only an essential ingredient. It is the essence of leadership and sales. “What is leadership?” To put it simply, leadership is influence. “What is sales?” It’s influence. 

Elizabeth and I are both in sales and in leadership. We are sellers and leaders. We are in the business of selling and leading. In our view, selling and leading are inextricably intertwined together by influence. We are in the business of influencing.  We are in the business of seeking to influence others. We would say that whether you are selling or leading, or doing both, “Your ability to influence is your greatest asset.” In our observation, the most successful leaders and sellers  are master influencers, understanding the needs and desires of others. For the purposes of this book, you can see that it’s not an either/or, it’s both/and when it comes to sales and leadership.