How's it going? Search as a sales job.

Rob Gaunt began his career selling copiers on commission only. And before he was CEO of Marine Rescue Technologies, he was fueling their sales team.

It therefore comes as no surprise that he found himself in his element when building and managing a pipeline of acquisition opportunities, on 30-40 calls per week with business owners, qualifying quickly, frontloading the deal killers, and moving a winner to closing.

Search is a sales job. There’s no way around it, and I’ve been saying it for years. It’s all about generating leads, qualifying those leads, and moving prospects efficiently through a pipeline over and over and over again. The more proficient you are in these core sales abilities, the more productive your search will be.

Glamorous? No. Interesting? Absolutely. The variety of businesses and personalities you’ll encounter during the search will keep you on your toes, but at some point you’ll be itching to move to the CEO role.

In the meantime, set your metrics and keep yourself honest. As a searcher, you’re a sales department of one (or two), so it’s up to you to hold yourself accountable. You’re looking to close only one deal, but it’s a big one.