I recently consulted a very talented and gifted tech-entrepreneur. This individual is a highly-skilled developer who’s built several successful apps and business. For the longest time, I wrongfully assumed that sales was an innate ability that all entrepreneurs come equipped with. After all, how else would an entrepreneur get their app or business off the ground other than sell and hustle, right? That’s why I was surprised when this individual needed consulting on how to sell his services for a new business.

This made me realize that sales and marketing is a skill set that gets taken for granted and often overlooked with startups and business owners alike. It’s important that entrepreneurs are constantly on top of sales techniques and marketing channels in their respected industries. Sales is a discipline that continues to grow and evolve, especially in a technical and autonomous business landscape.

There’s nothing wrong with going back to the basics. Classic hustle always wins.

If you started your business 10 years ago, like I did, it’s highly likely that you wouldn’t replicate the same sales process if you were to start your business today. A lot has changed in 10 years, from the way people communicate, they way people consume information, where people’s attentions lie, and how marketers demand some of that consumer attention.

The good news is that all of these new and evolving sales techniques can always be learned. However, the attributes that always remain constant, no matter what decade you’re in, are grit, hustle and persistence. Possessing these characteristics will compensate for any lack of formal sales training, 100% of the time.

This consultation brought me back to the early days of Web4Realty. When we started out, not only did I not have any experience selling software, I also had no experience selling to people or businesses. I remember reading three books on selling, and one book on telephone sales specifically. I took little tidbits from every book, and applied it to my sales process. I then tweaked, revised, and tested different methods, until I was comfortable and became a killer salesperson.

There’s nothing wrong with going back to the basics. Classic hustle always wins.