There’s a clear difference between an amateur salesperson and a professional one. However, I bet it’s not what you’d expect.

Did you know Benjamin Franklin, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Bill Gates, and Martha Stewart are salespeople?

Even if selling isn’t your primary career or you don’t think of yourself as a salesperson, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t learn how to sell like a professional.

If you’re an entrepreneur, CEO, or manager, you need a broad and strong skill set. To get the most out of your role, dedicate time and effort to understanding the sales cycle.

I went from an amateur to a professional salesperson at the age of 26 after studying how to sell like a pro. The investigation, research, surveying, and recording I did during those years changed my career.

Every business I’ve started, every dollar I’ve earned, and everything I’ve done resulted from something I learned about selling and negotiating.

Amateur salesperson vs. professional salesperson

The definition of a professional is “a person engaged in a specified activity as one’s main paid occupation rather than a pastime.”

Now, in my experience, 99% of all so-called “professionals” don’t know much about selling. If you’re offended by this, keep an open mind because sometimes the truth is hard to hear.

If you want to be in control of your customers, career, and income, you need to become a master at sales. Real professional salespeople understand that selling is an art.

On the other hand, an amateur is “one who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather than a profession.” Alternatively, someone who lacks experience and competence in an art or science.

I’ve met hundreds of thousands of salespeople, and most didn’t know the first thing about their craft.

But how do you know if you’re you’re a professional or amateur as a salesperson?

Ask yourself the following questions:

  • Do you lack experience, confidence, or conviction when selling?
  • Are you not clear about what you’re doing when negotiating with people?
  • Do you struggle to get your way to getting someone to say “yes”?
  • Are you having a hard time dealing with objections?

If you’re committed to your decision of becoming a professional salesperson instead of an amateur, book a chat with my team about Cardone University.

Final thoughts

You must get clear on these two things:

  1. Selling is critical to your survival.
  2. Becoming a professional is a choice.

Now get out there and be Great,

Grant Cardone

Disclosure: This content is intended to be used for educational and informational purposes only. Individual results may vary. You should perform your own due diligence and seek the advice from a professional to verify any information on our website or materials that you are relying upon if you choose to make an investment or business decision. Investment, real estate, and business involve great risk and there is no guarantee of performance or results.

We are not attorneys, investment advisers, accountants, tax professionals or financial advisers and any of the content presented should not be taken as professional advice. We recommend seeking the advice of financial professional before you invest, and we accept no liability whatsoever for any loss or damage you may incur.

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Star of Discovery Channel’s “Undercover Billionaire,” Grant Cardone owns and operates seven privately held companies and a private equity real estate firm, Cardone Capital, with a multifamily portfolio of assets under management valued at over $4 billion. He is the Top Crowdfunder in the world, raising over $900 million in equity via social media. Known internationally as the leading expert on sales, marketing, and scaling businesses, Cardone is a New York Times bestselling author of 11 business books, including “The 10X Rule,” which led to Cardone establishing the 10X Global Movement and the 10X Growth Conference, now the largest business and entrepreneur conference in the world. The online business and sales educational platform he created, Cardone University, serves over 411,000 individuals and Forbes 100 corporate clients throughout the world. Voted the top Marketing Influencer to watch by Forbes, Cardone uses his massive 15 million plus following to give back via his Grant Cardone Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to mentoring underserved, at-risk adolescents in financial literacy, especially those without father figures.