How Important Are Selling / Marketing Skills For An Entrepreneur?

They say, if you can't sell; don't start a business. Because your business will only survive when you are able to sell. This discussion is about the importance selling and marketing skills to an entrepreneur.

Typically the sales job requires strong interpersonal and conversational skills. We engineers, grossly suck at that which makes our job difficult. So can a business survive without the entrepreneurs mastering the above mentioned skills? Your thoughts, please?

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  • Ramani Aswath

    Ramani Aswath

    @ramani-VR4O43 • Jul 6, 2012

    I am a retiring type myself. Is not Rolls_Royce a good model? A team where one looked after the engineering and the other handled the sales.
    #-Link-Snipped-#

    Having said that, an entrepreneur has other selling problems. He has to 'sell' his concept to the funding agencies and VCs. Not an easy job especially if the idea is new and truly a new venture. However, an entrepreneur passionate about his venture has the fibre for this portion. He can always get in competent marketing people, though he may have to part with a slice of the pie to them.

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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Kaustubh Katdare

    @thebigk • Jul 7, 2012

    Looking forward to more views on the topic. 😀

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  • Ankita Katdare

    Ankita Katdare

    @abrakadabra • Jul 7, 2012

    I have heard and read about this a lot of times. They say a salesman will always make a good entrepreneur. Ofcourse, if you are a smart salesman.
    Every good salesperson I've ever encountered is driven. They have a strong work ethic and a high energy level. They work harder and longer than their peers. These are some skills every startup entrepreneur should possess.

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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Kaustubh Katdare

    @thebigk • Jul 7, 2012

    Nope, a salesman won't always make an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs require a different skills set altogether than just selling. Staying motivated, never giving up, managing people and resources and keeping the organization growing is mostly what an entrepreneur does. Selling skills are just a part of it.

    The question is - how important are these skills? 😀

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