The Honest Lawyer

I had seen this road sign a few times when driving through Nelson in New Zealand’s South Island. It invoked a multitude of thoughts. “Is it a joke?” “Is it a real lawyer with a tongue-in-cheek slogan?” “Perhaps it’s a grave yard for deceased solicitors?”

Eventually I decided to find out and I followed the signs; I ended up in the car park of a very stylish pub. What a great marketing ploy; coming up with a name that conjures a plethora of thoughts. Here I am, six months later, inadvertantly helping to build the brand-recognition (with this article) of a unique kiwi pub.

“What”, I thought, “would be a more thought provoking name?” It was obvious; “The Honest Salesman”. No, this would be totally unbelievable. We could conceive of an “honest lawyer” if we tried really hard but “honest salesman” - never.

Now, if you are agreeing with me at this point, isn’t it a very sad reflection on about 30% of the Australian population, to which you belong, are salespeople? Almost everyone needs to sell. We have the obvious salespeople in retail stores; are they all dishonest, liars, deceitful, unethical? What about professional people, lawyers, accountants, dentists, doctors? They also have to have some degree of sales skills; otherwise their practices would fail.

What about teachers? They would never admit (or perhaps even be aware) that to be a good teacher you need to have excellent sales skills; otherwise their students would not comprehend the benefits of knowledge. I believe that a good teacher is a great salesperson. They have integrity, a deep desire to be of benefit to their students, enthusiasm and dedication.

It has been said that selling is the lowest paid easy job or the highest paid skilled profession. I know that I am a salesperson and I believe that I am a great salesperson; I have awards to prove it. However, the measure of a great salesperson is only measured by the number of people they have helped and the number of lives they have improved.

If you are one of the 30% of Aussies who sell, I ask you to be proud of your profession. Understand the rules and dedicate yourself to helping others, understand why your product or service will improve your client’s life, their business or their balance sheet.

Perhaps if all of us, who understand the real job of selling, which is actually education, see a pub somewhere with a sign “The Honest Salesman” we will automatically say, “So, aren’t they all?”