Young children are often the best salespeople. Many of us can remember a time when we would readily sell knick-knacks or services to our parents and other adults in the neighborhood to stash away a small amount of spending money. I’m sure you can also think of non-sales selling opportunities you exploited as a child, asking mom and not dad if six of your friends could sleep over, framing it in just the right way to get your desired response. What is it that makes sales less intimidating, at times, as a child than as an adult? Ultimately I think the strength of a child-like approach to selling is working your best connections and utilizing basic information about the people you’re selling to in order to enable a symbiotic interaction with the customer.
Building connections in sales is of the utmost importance not only in consideration of maintaining profitable relationships but also feeling comfortable in your own role as a salesperson. As a young child I had a comic strip business and the people who I started off selling to weren’t strangers on the street or random kids at recess but rather people I knew and felt comfortable with. By establishing sales with those who I already knew, I was able to practice and gain confidence for the tougher sales down the road. Obviously an adult business cannot be sustained simply by selling to your neighbor two doors down but the principle is the same. The more you know your customer, the easier it will be to establish rapport, make a sale, and maintain a relationship with them that will ultimately be profitable for whatever business endeavor you are involved in.
Trinity Blank 
Ethan David 
Caroline Marie Dawson
The concept of a person becoming adept at sales as and adult from experience as a child is very interesting. I never consider how powerful childhood experiences are when you examine a person’s confidence and ability to persuade someone. This idea is articulated well from your blog. I think it is an encouragement for parents to motivate their children to pursue projects where they interact with people in new ways and build the basics of life skills.
I love that you had a comic strip business!! What a Maria thing to do (: I definitely think we overlook how often we are salespeople, even in the most casual of situations.
Your idea of a child-like approach to sales reminds me of many stories I’ve heard about my older brother, who helped my grandparents sell antiques when he was only five years old. As an adult, he also had a successful sales career. I believe this is due in part to his ability to channel the enthusiasm and sociability that he had as a child.