Harry Bullis, the former chairman of the board of General Mills always gave his salespeople some simple, but powerful, advice: “Forget about the sales you hope to make and concentrate on the service you want to render.”

The moment people’s attention is centered on service to others Bullis explained, they become more dynamic and more forceful. They also become harder to resist.

“I tell our salespeople,” said Bullis, “that if they would start out each morning with the thought, ‘I want to help as many people as possible today,’ instead of ‘I want to make as many sales as possible today,’ they would find a more easy and open approach to their buyers and they would make more sales.

“The person who goes out to help people to a happier and easier way of life is exercising the highest type of salesmanship.”

Mmmm…By now, you may be scratching your head and wondering, what does this have to do with writing and creative endeavors? Only this: We, too, can benefit from shifting our focus from what we want to serving those we’re trying to connect with: our readers.

If you think about it, we writers and salespeople aren’t such an odd couple. We both have audiences we want to reach and persuade. We both need to find the courage to put what we create or sell out into the world. And we both have essentially the same aim: to woo people’s minds and hearts.

Sure, we need to write what we’re called to write. We can’t create anything of enduring value by catering to trends. But we can remember that our readers deserve our best and that writing is a form of service.

When a reader picks up a story or article or novel we’ve penned, they’re agreeing to give us their precious time and attention. That’s valuable! That’s worth caring about and responding to.

So along with striving to improve our craft and say what we long to say, let’s remember that service to our readers is also worth striving for. Write on!

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