A recent Linkedin post that I made which asked my network 'Do Safety people need sales skills?' drew quite a lot of attention.
It's interesting how some things just take off like a rocket, and others more like a damp squib.
Clearly people in the HSE industry had strong opinions on this, you can see my post here.
The opinion of my network was pretty conclusive and I think it provides an interesting insight into the HSE profession.
Whilst it is not something we are directly trained in, it is consensus among HSE professionals that we need to know how to sell safety.
'Some people use research like a drunkard uses a lamppost: for support, not illumination' - David Ogilvy
+50,000 views and 225 comments later, I thought I would review what people had said.
Firstly, of the Yes/No respondents - 82% Yes 18% No
The Top 5 Takeaways.....
1. We generally have to sell 'upwards' and influence 'downwards'
2. Developing our soft skills is critical e.g. relationship-building, empathy, communication, negotiation etc.
3. Our focus should be on understanding 'why', not on saying 'no'.
4. We need to better demonstrate how good H&S benefits people & productivity
5. Listening is more important than talking
Here's a little infographic to summarise what I found....
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