How to Think Like a Sales Person When You’re a Writer.

“Sales and marketing is a term used to describe the activities and operations that lead to the promoting, selling, and distribution of goods or services.”

When you’re approached by someone who is clearly in sales mode – who is peddling their wares, also called “prospecting” - whether it’s a car or a commercial or well-written book or script -  it’s bound to cause a flinch reaction (or a delete of the email).  It’s because the agenda is obvious, and tends to feel cloying and desperate.  Whether that’s true or not.   

So naturally as writers, we shy away from having to promote our own creations for fear of that reaction. We believe and want our work to stand on it’s own.  You’ve heard from your friends or colleagues in the writing community that you have an amazing offering, and that the merit of your work should be enough to get you through the door and closer to a sale.

While this does happen, it’s rare. I know several authors who live in remote places whose books have gotten published. And you’ve all heard of that twenty-something writer who was a waiter with a spec screenplay who managed to meet the rainmaker who sold it. Hearing this can be aspirational and give you confidence to keep going – which is great, and necessary. 

But realistically, most of the time the painful truth is that in order to launch your project and your career, like it or not, you have to turn on that sluggish and resistant part of your brain – and think strategically. 

I worked in sales for 9 years, while writing simultaneously. The switch that I flipped on and off daily, toggling between promoting directors and developing my own work, eventually became so worn that I decided to write and coach full time. I needed to own my identity as a writer and creator – to be true to my purpose and calling that could no longer be denied.   

For a time, I resented my former identity as a sales representative, believing it had usurped almost a decade of my living my true self, but I’ve come to realize that no. No way. It was one of the best experiences and skill set I could have ever cultivated that not only supplements my writing, but also allows me to see all sides. It allows me to understand how buyers think and the lens they view a project from.

Also, furthering the aspirations of directors I believed in, and concept-crystalizing what creative directors were visualizing was a fulfilling nut to crack - and also taught me how to speak “creative;” how to hone in on the essence of the creative message. What’s the piece about? What actually happens in the commercial? What’s the tone the creatives are striving for and does it match the director’s sensibility? And are the “buyers” (the clients and media folks paying for it) aligned with that vision?

I’m impatient. I tend to get antsy when I’m listening to an idea – or a story - that doesn’t gel quickly. It probably is one of the reasons I became a coach. I appreciate shorthand. In my non-writing life, it’s something I’ve had to work on – listening. Biting my tongue and opening my mind and ears. 

But every agent, manager or producer you reach out to is going to be impatient too. They are slammed, not to mention overwhelmed- especially in these wild times.  

So how do you start thinking like a sales person with your own work? 

1.    Get your logline down. Workshop it with friends casually, as if you were at a bar. Do you see them glaze over? Do you find yourself bored half way?

2.    Don’t be cutesy in your email. Unless your project is in a specific comedic voice (and you’re a humor writer or memoirist with a platform). 

3.    Get to the point. Don’t be cagey or mysterious. Be plain about the reason you’re reaching out. 

4.    Be respectful and cognizant of the reader’s bandwidth. Ie. a literary agent who is also a busy mom homeschooling her kids with a pile of manuscripts she’s had for three months .  A film agent who may be on a shoot or plane or at AFM with a roster of his or her own demanding clients.  Why should they pay attention to your email? 

We’ve all been there. Whether it’s a friend’s cousin’s kid’s brother who wants to pick your brain, and you’re a busy person. You’d probably do it as a favor anyway, but how lovely is it when that person emails you succinctly and politely with an understanding of your burdens, and gives you the grace to get back to them, whenever you can? 

I guess the message here is:

Know Your Audience.  

Interweb them. Get a sense of who it is you’re talking to, and put yourself in their shoes even if those shoes are the wrong size for you. Walk around in them for a mile or ten. Put some mismatched socks on. Get a blister.  Think of them as someone you’ve been introduced to through a mutual friend at a party – they’re fun, they have an interesting and full life. They have flaws. Their inner circle of friends are probably direct, genuine, and people who make them feel seen.  

Just like you.