If someone gave you a choice between selling, being in front of customers, talking to them on the phone, emailing them, or teaching sales skills, which would you select?

I’ve been doing both for several years, but if I had to choose, I’d prefer to sell.

Here’s why:

(1) Selling compels you to be effective. You need to get results. Your purpose is to generate approval of your deals. If you’re merely instructing others, you might be dynamic, fun, informative, and a real showman, but your “results” will be diluted by the very people you’re passing your tips on to. THEY have to put your techniques to work, and if they don’t, how can you say you have succeeded?

(2) Selling is combat. You need to be sharp and ferocious. Studying battles is interesting, but it is better left to the war colleges.

(3) Selling contains a good balance of motivations, a blending of risks and rewards, some of which you select. Should you hold out to earn large margins, or cut deals to the bone?

(4) Selling is a solitary pursuit. You’re on your own, and if you are an individualist, this is your kind of fun.

(5) Selling is a skill that carries over to every area of your life. Do you want to get that health insurance company to pay for your claim? That takes persuasive skill. Need a date? Again, you’re putting your influencing powers to the test. Want to help your kid to get along with that prickly teacher? That’s a sales job, too.

(6) The big money is in selling, not in teaching. Donald Trump made his fortunes in real estate, primarily, not in training “Apprentices.”

So, when you’re offered that sales training or management job, or you’re thinking of heading out on your own to become a coach or a consultant, consider what you really prefer to do, what gets your blood pumping, what pays for that nice lifestyle, and what cascades positively throughout your entire life.

If you’re like me, you might conclude: “I’d rather be selling!”

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the best-selling author of 12 books and more than a thousand articles. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is quoted often in prominent publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Business Week. His seminars and training programs are sponsored internationally and he is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40 universities. Dynamic, experienced, and lots of fun, Gary brings more than two decades of solid management and consulting experience to the table, along with the best academic preparation and credentials in the speaking and training industry. Holder of a Ph.D. from the Annenberg School For Communication at USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a law degree from Loyola, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies along with successful family owned and operated firms. Much more than a “talking head,” Gary is a top mind that you'll enjoy working with and putting to use. He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.