Small businesses after often founded by “Technicians” as Michael Gerber called them in his book “The E-Myth” more than 25 years ago. They are experts at something, and when they start the business they are doing everything and doing it well. If all goes well, the business grows so the owner takes on more “Technicians” to help deliver more products and services, but often they continue to sell. In most cases however, they don’t have a sales background, nor have they ever had any sales training, so they are missing out on sales that should be theirs. If they are smart, at some stage they will make a decision to develop their own selling and negotiating skills ON-PURPOSE, and consider recruiting one or more sales people. Wayne Berry is all for this, but warns “Do not abdicate your responsibility for sales once you hire sales people”. Master selling skills yourself too! That way you’ll know how to spot good sales people when recruiting, and you’ll also know whether anyone you hire is doing a good job or not. Part 1 of 3 in this series.