Selling It Even When You Don’t Believe In It

Good Morning. If you’ve been thinking about a career pivot, we may have found your next sales job: high-end art. Sotheby’s just sold a Gustav Klimt painting for $236.4 million after a 19-minute bidding war. We can only imagine what the commission on that deal looked like… It set multiple auction records and helped push this week’s total art sales past $700 million across Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Why sell those wimpy $5,000 ARR deals when you could close $236 million instead? Now, let’s get into today’s Follow Up. (:

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You're not going to love every product you sell. That's just reality.

Sometimes your company launches something you think is mediocre. Maybe the pricing feels off. Maybe the features seem half-baked. Maybe you genuinely believe competitors have a better solution.

But you still need to do your job and hit quota.

So what do you do when you have to sell something you don't actually believe in?

You get clarity on what matters.

And here's the uncomfortable truth - you don’t have to be a huge fan of every product you sell. But you do need to understand the value it brings.

Here’s what we mean: 

Let's kill this myth right now. "You can't sell something you don't believe in."

If that were true, half of your friends wouldn’t have a job…

You mean 22 year old Johnny isn’t passionate about life insurance? Yes. That is exactly what I mean.

You don't need to love the product. You just need to understand why your buyer might.

The best salespeople I know have sold products they would never use themselves. They still crushed quota because they understood something most reps miss: selling isn't about your feelings.

The most successful salespeople aren't in love with every product they sell.

They're not always in love with their company either. And they definitely don't worship the roadmap marketing created.

What they do love is selling itself.

The process of selling is hardwired into great reps, so they can ask the right questions and find the pain in every buyer they talk to.

They guide prospects through this process without pressure or desperation.

This flow helps them understand what actually matters to the client.

Then they present how the product impacts the buyer's world.

The rep doesn't have to love the product. They just have to understand how it helps their specific buyer. That's when they can sell it to anyone who will benefit.

Here's exactly what to do when you need to sell something you're not passionate about:

While loving a product can make you sound like a true believer, it can also make you sound like you joined a cult.

When you can get emotionally attached, oversell, overhype, and scare prospects away. You become the annoying friend who won't shut up about their new hobby.

When you don't love the product, you can stay detached, learn about it at a practical level, and discuss real buying reasons.

This approach often builds way more trust because you sound rational instead of fanatical. You're there to help the client, not promote your favorite brand.

You don't need to believe in the product. You certainly don't need to love it. You just need to understand that for the right client, this product creates real value.

Then, do your job. Find those clients and help them understand that value.

If you can anchor yourself in that reality every time, you can outsell every rep who drinks the company Kool-Aid.