I’m in sales, how about you?

What do you do for a living?

If you said something that referred to your products or services, you are only half right. Although you might choke saying it, you are, perhaps more than anything, a salesperson. If you aren’t selling, you probably aren’t doing much of anything else.

When do you sell? When you are pitching a new client? When you are attending a networking event? When you are in line at the grocery store? When you are introducing yourself to your new neighbour? When you are talking to the bank-loan officer about renewing your mortgage?

I’m going to suggest that you don’t need to be selling in some of these situations. You need to be selling in all of these situations.

You need to be selling constantly.

By selling constantly, I don’t mean that you have to go to every possible “networking event” where there are warm—or at least moving— bodies. (In fact, I tend to avoid formal networking events because despite the name, I don’t find that they are very conducive to getting new business. The reason is that, like me, everyone else is there to sell, sell, sell, not buy, buy, buy.)

And I don’t mean that you have to bore everyone you meet with the details of your business. While what you do may be very interesting to some people, a sales-pitch barrage will have them running for the hills.

But you do have to be sensitive to new opportunities.

During casual conversations with new acquaintances, two things will come up: the weather and our respective jobs. “I’m a marketing guy,” is my simple response. (If it’s not asked, I find a way to work it in, oh, so casually.)

The very next question, of course, is: “What do you market?” Within about twenty seconds, I’ve told them what I do and how my job is to make my clients look brilliant so they can sell more.

“Really,: they often say—after all, who doesn’t want to sell more? “Can I have your card?”

“Oh, OK,” I say half—but only half—reluctantly. “I’ll take your card and give you one of mine.”

Then, we move on quickly to more general topics such as classic cars, the hottest new restaurants in town or how our dependence on fossil fuels in a market-driven society won’t end anytime soon.

Then you say good bye. Now what?

Here is what often happens: we have a new lead and, sometimes for no other reason than a lack of confidence, we never look at it again. Or, when we do, we think, “yeah, I really ought to write that guy a note.”

Why don’t we do it? Why do we just let it slide until it’s far too late?

It usually gets blamed on a lack of time.

But a lack of time is no excuse. Neither is a lack of confidence or a (perceived) lack of something to say.

Just grab your keyboard or telephone by the scruff of the neck and begin.

“It was nice to meet you the other night,” is a good start. “As promised, I thought I should follow up while the conversation was still fresh in my mind. You said there might be an opportunity for you to increase sales by improving your Web presence. I think you are right and I would like to help. Do you have 15 minutes or so in the next few days? I would love to come by, learn a little more about what you do and show you how I think I can help you tune up your website.”

Now all you have to do is set a date.

There are lots of opportunities out there. Often, it’s right under your nose—you just have to learn how to recognize it.