Welcome to the Week: How I Cured My Suckiness at Sales

This past week, I had one of those “a-ha” moments while visiting one of our stores. A customer walked in with a bunch of questions, macros, protein goals, trainer recommendations, and which meals would work best for her. She had tried a few and loved a couple. But then she pointed to one of our top-selling meals and said, flat out: “This one sucks.”

Years ago, that would’ve triggered me. I would’ve jumped in, defensive and ready to explain why she was wrong. But instead, I watched how our team member handled it. And what hit me, what really struck me, was how much better he was at sales than I ever was on the shop floor.

And the reason? Connection.

We throw that word around a lot in business: connection. But watching him in action, I realized something deeper. He wasn’t trying to “sell” her. He was trying to hear her. And more importantly, he gave her control. He listened. He asked questions. He shared suggestions, but never in a way that overpowered her needs or goals. He respected her journey.

It was a MasterClass in what real sales looks like. Not a pitch. Not a hard close. But a conversation.

Fourteen years ago, when I was working the floor at Fitlife Foods , I thought being great at sales meant knowing our product inside and out, and talking about it non-stop. I’d highlight everything we did: the nutrition, the quality, the variety. But in hindsight, I often missed the moment. I didn’t stop long enough to truly hear what someone needed. I was too busy showing what we could do.

I was selling, but I wasn’t connecting.

At Fitlife, we talk a lot about feeding your journey. But that means something different for every person. Every journey has a different starting point, a different goal, a different obstacle. If we aren’t slowing down enough to understand what someone’s journey really looks like, why they came to us in the first place, we miss the chance to truly help.

And when we miss that, we miss the business opportunity, too.

The irony? We drive the most sales when we stop trying so hard to sell. Because what people really want isn’t a pitch, they want to be heard. They want to feel seen. And when they do, they buy.

So this week, whether you’re on the shop floor, in a customer meeting, or just in a conversation with someone in your life, try giving them the one thing that always leads to more: control.

Give people their power back. That’s how you create connection. And connection, it turns out, is how you drive results.

Go Feed Your Journey,

David