I was driving down to Chicago Saturday. West Loop. Going to see my kids. Seventy degrees, which in Wisconsin in the spring feels like somebody handed you a gift you didn’t ask for and couldn’t be more grateful to receive.

And as I’m cruising through Illinois, what am I thinking about?

Sales. Obviously. 🤓

Because over the last month I have run into an almost comical parade of bad salespeople. And before you hit me with the AI is going to replace everyone speech, let me stop you right there. You would not say that if you had spent time in the field lately. You would not say that if you’d watched a real salesperson walk into a room, read it in about 30 seconds, and walk out with a signed deal and a customer who is already planning to refer their friends.

AI is not doing that. Not today. Not ever, if we’re being honest about what sales actually is.

The Real Job

Here’s what I believe about sales, and I’ve believed this for a long time.

Every single day, as a salesperson, you have the opportunity to create the best interaction another person has had all day. That’s the job. That’s the whole job. Not the close, not the commission, not the quota. The connection.

People are terrible listeners. That is not a cynical observation, that is just the truth. Most people in any conversation are waiting to talk, not actually hearing what’s in front of them. As a salesperson, that is your competitive advantage. Shut up. Listen. Actually hear what the person across from you is telling you. Pick your moments. Let them talk. Most of the time, the sale is sitting right there in what they just said, if you were paying attention.

My late friend Eric used to say, John, you could sell anything. He was right. And the reason isn’t some magic trick or a silver tongue. It’s because I genuinely want to know what’s going on with you. What do you need? What are you worried about? What would make your life better right now? If you can get to that, you can sell anything to anyone.

The Commission-Only Crucible

I spent about 25 years in health and fitness. Clinical exercise physiologist, master’s degree, the whole thing. I was good at it. I was also burning out, and I knew I wasn’t doing it until I was 80. I’m going to work until I’m 80, but it was not going to be that.

So when we bought a Toyota Highlander from Smart Toyota here in Madison, and the experience was genuinely excellent, I thought to myself, I want to be inside that system. I want to learn how this works. So I went and sold cars. And then I moved to Lexus of Madison, where I spent three years learning things about people, about selling, and about myself that I could not have learned any other way.

The other day I was talking to a young guy who was thinking about getting into car sales. I told him something that stopped him cold. I said: every single person, you included, should have to go work 100% commission for at least a year or two.

He looked at me like I’d told him to jump off a bridge.

I meant every word of it.

Because here’s what 100% commission does to you. It removes the safety net. When you have to sell in order to eat, you get serious about selling. You stop overthinking the approach and start actually engaging. You get your nose bloodied. You feel like you got beat up on the drive home. You come back the next morning anyway.

Picture this. It’s the last day of the month. You need 10 cars to hit the bonus. You’re sitting at 9. You’ve got 8 to 12 hours, no prospects on the books, and the whole thing rides on what happens today. That is pressure that will either crack you or forge you. There is no in-between.

I came out the other side of four years in car sales saying it was the best part of my career. Not in spite of how hard it was. Because of it.

You’re Already Selling

Here’s what I want you to take away from all of this.

You are already a salesperson. All of us are. You sell your way into jobs. You sell your way into relationships. You sell ideas to your team, your partners, your kids. The question isn’t whether you’re selling. The question is whether you’re any good at it.

And if you’re not working on it, you’re not getting better at it. It’s a skill. It sharpens with practice and attention. Most people treat it like a personality trait you either have or you don’t. That’s wrong. I’ve watched people transform themselves into genuinely great salespeople because they decided to take it seriously and actually do the work.

You don’t have to be as obsessed as I am. Most people aren’t, and that’s fine. But you cannot ignore it and expect to advance. You cannot sidestep it and expect to build the career or the life you actually want.

AI is not coming for the great salespeople. If anything, it’s going to make them more valuable, because when everything is automated and commoditized and delivered through a screen, the person who can sit across from someone, actually listen, and build a real connection is going to stand out like a searchlight.

That person can be you.

Go sell something today.

johnny renaissance

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